


Jezebel's Story

by CreativeBlossom96, Mysterique



Category: Constantine (Comic), Constantine (TV), Gravity Falls, Hellblazer, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Batman - Freeform, Constantine - Freeform, Couple, F/M, Friendship, Harley Quinn - Freeform, M/M, Mixed Fandoms, OC, OC Story, couples, matt ryan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 12:19:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 52
Words: 177,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17528594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreativeBlossom96/pseuds/CreativeBlossom96, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysterique/pseuds/Mysterique
Summary: Here are the stories (both long and short) of Jezebel Connelly and her adventures with John Constantine; her story to how she and John met, and follow ups from that.--- Note: Some chapters will be in of My Little Pony/ pony versions of the characters, but this will be noted at the beginning of the chapter ---





	1. Richard Leaves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Richard is Jezebel's older brother; Max (her younger brother) has not long been born here.

Richard had just had another fight with their parents, and Jezebel stood outside the room in the hallway holding her pony teddy in her small hands; Richard angrily walked out of the dining room, stomping passed Jezebel and up the stairs to his room. A loud bang could be heard, most likely meaning that he had slammed his door. Jezebel followed his previous path, to a white door that had a plaque on the top stating 'Dick's Room; Keep Out'.

Jezebel held her pony in one hand, while she knocked with the other. From the other side, Richard shouted, "Go away!"

She knew he would most likely want to be alone, but she so wanted to make sure her big brother was alright, so Jezebel lightly pushed open the door, letting it creak. She shuffled inside the room, to see her brother with his back to the door and curled up on his bed. He violently turned to face her, "I thought I said... Oh, Jezzy, sorry lil' sis, thought you were mum or dad. What's wrong?"

Jezebel could see that his face was tear stricken, meaning that he had been crying since he got up to his room. Jezebel scrambled onto his bed, cuddling up to her big brother, who was twice the size of her in height, "Richy, why you sad?"   
  
"Ah, mum and dad are being mean about your gift again." Richard paused for a moment, "You know, Jezzy, I want to tell you something, you know I won't always be able to be here for you right?"   
  
"Why not? Are you going away?" Jezebel innocently asked, looking up to face him.

"I...I'm not so sure." Richard looked deep in thought; this made Jezebel grip hold of her pony teddy tighter, as she would normally do when nervous or feeling anxious.

"Don't go, Richy; pwease?" She looked up, tears looked to be forming at her eyes.

"Come on, Jezzy; I wouldn't do that to you." Richard cuddled her closer, tears also began to form at his own eyes. That morning, Jezebel woke up to find that her brother was gone. All of his things. Him. Gone. She felt something she hadn't really felt before; she felt... alone.   


	2. Max Finds Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Max is 3 here

Max cheerfully skipped into Jezebel's room, where she was sat at her desk; Max stood in her doorway, cheerfully begging, "Jezzy, can we build a book fort? Pleassee?" 

Jezebel, who was actually talking to a spirit and doesn't hear or spot her baby brother, harshly spoke, "Can't you see I am trying to get some work done?" 

Max sadly started to walk away, "Oh, Okay." 

Jezebel looked up and noticed Max walking away; she called to him, "Max? What's wrong, I didn't see you there?"  

Max turned to Jezebel with hope in his eyes, "Wait, so you weren't talking to me?" Jezebel shook her head, and he asked, "Who were you talking to?" 

Jezebel shamefully looked down, "I...I would rather not talk about it..." 

Max looked all too excited, "Was it a ghost?" 

"What makes you say that?"  

"Well, I sometimes see you talking, when you're by yourself, so I just guess that you're talking with a ghost. Are you?" 

"I...Yes, I usually am. Some of them aren't so nice though."  

"Cool, well the fact that you can talk with ghosts. Do you ever see family members, like nanny?" 

Jezebel Smiled that someone actually believed in her 'gift', "Well, I've seen her once or twice, but that's usually near our birthdays or Christmas."  

"Mummy and dad don't like your gift, do they?" Max asked, looking ever so innocent as he tried to peer over Jezebel's desk.

Jezebel thought for a moment, then spoke, "No. I don't suppose they do. Mummy always denies it..."   
  
"What does denies mean?"   
  
"It means to not take notice it is there, like mummy always says my gift isn't there."  
  
"Oh, okay. Dad gets angry when your gift gets mentioned, don't he?"  

"Yeah," Jezebel looked down sadly once again, but suddenly cheering up, "Hey, I thought you wanted to make a book fort? Let's go!"

"Yay, book fort!" The brother and sister happily skipped off to the house library, which was shared among all of them.  


	3. Jez

It wasn't long after Jezebel had told her parents of seeing her (dead) nana on the street outside their house; her mum hadn't taken it that well. She may often deny that Jezebel even had a gift of seeing the dead, but this time she went overboard and she ended up slapping Jezebel. Jezebel ran outside to the garden, where she would often go to do some thinking. There was an old oak tree at the end of their garden and she would sit around the back of it - the side where her parents couldn't see her -.

She sat crying, with her hands covering her face and her knees up to her chest. After a short while, she felt like she was being watched, but carried on crying to herself. The figure watching her, still stood, "Poor child."   
  
Jezebel gasped, her head shooting up to face the figure; before her there was indeed a person - what their gender was, was actually hard to tell -, and they were cloaked. They looked like they had a glow around them, but Jezebel set that down to the sunset lighting.

"W-who are you?" Jezebel asked, keeping in the knees to chest position; she wrapped her arms around her knees.

"A friend, my dear child." The figure smiled sweetly, "May I ask, why are you crying? Why are you alone out here, when you could be inside with your family?"

After Jezebel didn't reply, only looking down to the grass underneath her, the figure spoke again, "Is it perhaps because they do not believe in your supernatural gift? Or perhaps that you do not trust them enough to tell them about it, like you did with your brothers?"

"How did you know about my gift?" Jezebel finally spoke, looking back up to the figure.

"It is not hard to tell, as I myself am a spirit, kind girl." For the next few hours of talking and getting to know one another, the figure - or as Jezebel had taken to call them 'Jez' - had gained her trust, or at least part of it. Over the months, Jez would help Jezebel with her supernatural duties, such as helping the earthbound to cross over and banishing the bad demons back to Hell. This gave Jezebel reason enough to trust Jez, as well as the fact Jez was someone she could talk to about her gift, or as she would sometimes refer to it as her curse.   


	4. The Murder

It was another day. Another day where her parents denied and angered at the mere mention of her supernatural gift. Her father. He would get ever so angry, like he used to with her older brother. So angry that he would go to hit her, though not meaning to. One day, though, he lost it and he actually hit Jezebel. Across the cheek.

This made Jezebel run out of the house, and to her usual spot by the Oak tree; as usual, Jez approached her and - like they usually did - they talked about it. The talking would usually make Jezebel feel better, but this time it felt different. They had previously talked, well mainly Jezebel spoke about it, but they spoke about possessions. Jezebel had always wondered what it was like to be possessed, as the people she had helped were; whenever she would even slightly mention the topic, Jez would get all too giddy about it and encourage her to do so. This time, this time there was no exception. Jezebel's sadness did not stop them.

"Jezebel, my dear, do you still wonder what it would be like if you were possessed?" Jez asked, tilting their head, while kneeling more to Jezebel's level.

"What?" Jezebel looked rather confused by the question, so much that she had to back away, more into the tree.

"Don't you want to know the feeling anymore?"   
  
"Well, I have thought about it..." Jezebel trailed off, but was interrupted before she could talk again.

"Then why not let me take over for a while. Your parents would not be able to deny your gift once I have finished showing them what I can do." Jez's grin widened as they spoke, and it frightened Jezebel; Jez saw this, and calmed them self, "I think it would help greatly, imagine it, you would not feel as lonely anymore."

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt for you to show them," Jezebel slowly agreed

Jez held out their hand, "Well, I can't actually possess you unless you state it yourself."

"I, Jezebel, give you permission to take over my body. To use me as a vessel." Jezebel took a deep breath, before shaking Jez's hand; a blue flame surrounded their hands, confirming the deal. The start of the possession made Jezebel feel... alive. It was a thrill to her. But, it only lasted a mere 5 minutes, before she blacked out and Jez took over completely.

Jezebel remembered nothing, but a dream. A very vivid dream at that. She awoke to see blood on her hands. Whose blood, she did not know; that was, until she walked into the kitchen and saw her little brother there. He was in a pool of his own blood, barely alive.

He looked at her, "Why did you do it, Jezzy? Why did you hurt us like that?"

Jezebel shook her head, as he continued to look at her, continuing to ask 'why'. She couldn't take that he was suffering, and she walked up to him. She saw that there were multiple stab wounds in his chest and abdomen area. She saw he had bruises and defensive wounds on his hands, feet and arms. He was suffering indeed.

"I'm...I'm so sorry, Max. I'm so sorry," Jezebel held him close, though he tried to pull away; she sobbed as she snapped his neck, and in her mind it was to stop him from suffering. She held him for a short while, before gently closing his eyes, standing, and holding her head in her hands at what she had done.

She shook her head, backing out of the room; she ran through the house looking for her parents. She found them. She found them also lying in their own blood, but they were actually dead. They stared open eyed, looking like they were blaming her. It seemed like they were staring straight at her, with their disapproving eyes. They too has stab wounds in the chest and abdomen area, along with the defensive wounds on the hands and arms.

Jezebel collapsed to her knees, landing in the blood. She saw that the house phone was in her mother's hand and decided to move it to the bedside table. She closed their eyes also. She wondered: would her parents still believe her now, about her gift and the supernatural? She laughed at the mere thought that this event would probably not cause them to believe and only have them think it was her being 'crazy'. Jezebel stayed kneeling in her parent's blood for a short while, only to walk back downstairs, thinking 'Maxy needs someone beside him.'

Jezebel rocked her body, hugging Max's body, as she screamed for Jez to appear. To explain their self to her. She screamed, 'Why' repeatedly, wanting an explanation to why these events happened. Why Jez would kill her family. Why Jez would kill her family using Jezebel's body. 

By the house phone being in her mother's hand, Jezebel thought that she had indeed called the police or someone to come help. This thought was confirmed, when the FBI burst through the backdoor and caught her kneeling in her little brother's blood, holding him close. The detective  (who was called Sebastian Hameldon at the time) had to pry her away; he was the only one to be gentle with her, to actually treat her like a damaged person. The other officers, well, they just treated her like a piece of meat, like they would with any mentally damaged soul.

Due to these events, the murder and her being the only live 'survivor' on the scene - which was cause for her to be the main suspect -, Jezebel was sent to the Hanwell Asylum for the insane and mentally ill. She was 10 years old when these events took place, when she was admitted to the asylum. She was the age of 13 when she was discharged of the place, and that 3 years was enough for her.  Though on the first night, Jezebel got her explanation from Jez. 

It was really late at night, the same night of the murder, and Jezebel was sat in the corner of the room. The corner closest to the small, barred window that was positioned high above her. Jezebel had her knees to her chest, and her arms wrapped around her knees with her head buried in her knees. She sobbed to herself. She suddenly felt watched, though shrugged it off at first, thinking it was just a doctor or nurse checking up on her. 

"Poor, sweet Jezebel. Lost her family and admitted to an asylum all in the same day?" 

"You!" Jezebel stood up and violently went to swing at Jez.

"I feel like our relationship was damaged since this afternoon..." 

"You think?!" Jezebel harshly glared at Jez, before sitting down on the edge of the bed; after a short while, Jezebel finally asked - though not wanting to -, "Why? Why did you kill them?" 

"Why? Well, the truth of my actions will be revealed soon... But, part of it is that I simply tried to show off my ghostly abilities, like we had planned, but your parents... oh, they did not believe that such powers exist. They got defensive, they tried to attack me... or rather you, since they did not think you was I." Jez began to explain, all the while wearing a smile, "They wanted to snap me/you out of the nonsense they thought we were pulling, so I merely fought back." 

"You killed them!" Jezebel shouted, and she paused before asking, "What of my baby brother? Why did you kill him?" 

"He was merely a witness, and everybody knows you can't leave a witness." Jez simply stated before disappearing on Jezebel, leaving her to sob and wonder if it was all a horrid nightmare that she hoped to wake up from soon, while crying to herself.  

 

 


	5. Angel DeLance

Jezebel had spent day after day in her room, not wanting to leave. Wanting all of it to be a nightmare and to be over. She wouldn't budge off the bed, and the only time she did was to move to the corner of the room. This got bad over the week, that a nurse - actually a couple of nurses - had to escort her to the common room to actually get a bit of social in her life. The nurse that was left with her sat Jezebel down with the group in the middle of the room; the seats were very uncomfortable, so Jezebel ended up moving multiple times to find a position that would at least give little comfort. She found what they talked about ever so boring, and instead sat sideways - facing the wall -, her head lolled to the side.

From her view, Jezebel could see a small, pale girl. She looked fixated on something, but Jezebel wasn't so sure what it was. She had really light blonde hair with light pink streaks, and she held her ponytail up with a black bow. She looked ever so innocent, especially with the really light blue eyes she had. The girl wore a white nightgown - as most of the girls did there - and held something in her hand. Curiosity got the better of Jezebel and she decided to actually go say hi. The girl saw that Jezebel was approaching and quickly hid the object in her hand.

"Umm, hi, I'm Jezebel. I'm kind of new here and don't really know what you do for 'fun'" Jezebel shyly said, fiddling with her hands; the girl did the same, almost like she was copying Jezebel. She thought to put fake quotations around 'fun' just to help get a laugh out of both of them, which she did manage to do.

"There isn't really much to do." The girl smiled slightly

"Oh, what's that in your hand?" Jezebel pointed to the object that was slightly in view.

"This? Umm, I made it... From hair of the girl that used to live next door to me...." The girl slightly lifted her hand, showing a small thread-like doll.

"Cool, you really made that by yourself?" Jezebel just about heard the last bit, but was more fascinated over the fact that a girl that looked 8 could make something as detailed as what she held.

"Yeah, you're not like the nurses or any other 'normal' patient here. What did you say your name was?"

"Jezebel. I was admitted here because I said a demon killed my family, and no one believed me. I can also see ghosties. What about you? What's your name?"

"My name? It's Angel. I... I hurt some of the kids in my school. Really bad, but they had it coming!" Jezebel saw that Angel's personality could go from really sweet to seriously scary at times when she spoke.

"I'm 10, how old are you?" Jezebel asked, a bit chipper

"I'm 10 in 3 days." Both girls giggled at how close their ages were.

"What were you looking, Angel?"

"I thought I saw something over there," Angel pointed over to the corner, by the jukebox, "I think it was just a mouse though."

Even though they kind of already knew what it was, Jezebel and Angel investigated what the object or animal was, to find that Angel was right about it being a mouse. Jezebel stuck with Angel as often as she could; they became so close during their times at the hospital, that the nurses even had to give them neighbouring rooms. The two young girls would talk about their lives before the hospital, and how they would live them once they were out.   

 


	6. Charlotte 'Chokehold' Harold

Angel and Jezebel were sat in the common room, talking amongst themselves over the topic of how close it was to Angel's birthday; they even happily talked about Jezebel's gift, and Jezebel was just happy enough that she was able to openly talk about it for once without someone judging her. That was, they were talking until some doctors and nurses burst through the doors, trying to control one of the latest patients that had transferred from a few of the asylums that had recently closed down. The patient the doctors and nurses were most focused on was a short, purple and black haired girl; by what they could see, the girls saw that the girl wore a straight jacket - meaning she was highly dangerous -. Another clue that gave this away was the blood trickling from her mouth and it wasn't her own. One of the nurses held on to their hand, which was frantically bleeding out.

While a lot of the nurses were focused on fixing their co-workers wounded hand, the girl took this as an escape route; she looked to be good at stealth and even managed to get passed a lot of the doctors and 2 of the security guards, before being given a tranquilizer.

"Wow, she's good!" Angel grinned

"I know right, she almost got passed Frank and Gerard!" Jezebel grinned too; they watched as the girl was taken to a room. 

The room was next door to Jezebel too. Angel and Jezebel found out that the girl they so eagerly watched trying to escape was called Charlotte, but liked to be called Chokehold, due to her being extra talented at gymnastics and using these to her advantage. The girls made it their duty to make friends with this girl, and so they did. Though Charlotte had to keep the straight jacket on at all times (only sometimes managing to free herself of it), she got on very well with Jezebel and Angel.


	7. Beth Collins - Blaze

Following being released, Jezebel was taken into the care of her great aunt Agatha - or as she called her Grauntie Agatha -; not that she was entirely impressed, she was put into a public high school, not far from her aunt's house. It was here the major problems arose. 

Jezebel shuffled along the school corridor, head down and headphones in; she would often listen to her favourite band: My Chemical Romance to help (slightly) brighten her mood. The trance the music had on caused her to bump into a group of girls. She looked up, taking out her headphones as she did, to see who she had bumped into. She suddenly regretted her actions as she saw that who she bumped into was Jamie-Lee, the girl who often - if not always - had to make a horrible comment on Jezebel. Jezebel quickly paused her music, so she did miss her favourite song.

This gave Jamie-Lee and her friends the opportunity to harass Jezebel; Jamie snatched Jezebel's IPod, holding it out of reach - which wasn't very often since Jezebel was really tall for her age -. She and her friends laughed as Jezebel tried jumping for her Ipod, "What were you listening to, anyway, goth?"

'Goth' was Jamie's attempt at bullying Jezebel over her looks; Jezebel had not long dyed her hair purple, adding a touch more black to it as well. She also wore leather jackets, sometimes wore chokers and laid on the eyeliner thickly. Hence giving her the stereo-type nickname of 'goth'.

"Please, give it back!" Jezebel continued to jump for her ipod; the girls threw the Ipod between them, catching it before Jezebel could.

From the opposite end of the corridor, a red headed girl that wore a letterman jacket - one that supported the school's gymnastics team - over a paint-stained white shirt and jeans walked down; she witnessed the group and Jezebel's interaction, thinking of not actually getting involved at first due to thinking they were all just having some fun. That was until she saw Jezebel's frustrated and tired face. The tall girl quickly paced herself toward the group.

She stood over them, taking the ipod, "Oi, why don't pick someone from your own group? I'm sure I saw some tarty looking girls over there."

The group of girls huffed, sticking their noses in the air before walking off, and talking among themselves. They obviously talked about the girl that helped Jezebel out, and not in a good way. The girl, who looked sort of familiar to Jezebel, handed Jezebel her ipod; Jezebel squeaked a thank you.

"You okay, I know those girls can be bitches at time." The girl asked, concern on her face; Jezebel nodded, "My name's Bethany, by the way, but my friends call me Blaze, mainly 'cause how fast I can finish a gymnastic competition. You can call me that if you want, or just call me Beth."

"Wait, are you saying I'm your friend?" Jezebel wrapped the wire of the headphones around the body of the ipod, before putting it away in her jacket pocket; she looked rather shocked someone was talking to her, nevermind someone saying they were her friend.

"Uh-huh. Well, if you really want to be." Bethany smirked

"Umm, thank you."

"You don't have many friends, do you?" Bethany asked, and Jezebel sadly shook her head, "Well, how about you come meet my friends?"

"Are you sure they'll like me?"

"Why wouldn't they? You already seem so interesting. I mean, I saw that you like My Chemical Romance, when I got your Ipod for you."

"Oh, okay." Jezebel smiled and they went off.

During the following week, Bethany would look out for Jezebel, who was still shy about hanging out with her friends, whenever someone or a group of people would give her trouble. She also told Jezebel that she knew what it was like with Depression and anxiety as she had it herself, and it would often stop her from performing her gymnastics. Another fact that Bethany told Jezebel - to help her feel more comfortable - was that some of her own teammates teased her for the anxiety she would feel sometimes when it came to the competitions. Jezebel saw for herself how skilled and agile Bethany was when it came to gymnastics, but also saw when Beth would get nervous. 

 

 


	8. Rumours

Jezebel stood by her locker, hugging her books close to her chest; she felt nervous about officially being at school, most especially a high school. She felt so lost and alone, especially since losing her only friends (Angel and Charlotte), even though they did keep in contact still. Jezebel wasn't allowed out very often either due to her Great Aunt Agatha - who was her now legal guardian - being so uptight and strict on what Jezebel could and could not do.

She prepared herself for her next class: art, one that she actually - sort of - enjoyed. She liked to doodle a lot, and was getting pretty good at it due not having many friends and being able to socialise as much. She had swapped her history books for her A5 sketchpad, when she heard giggling from behind her.

It was Sammy Jo and Melissa - two girls who often had fun causing misery for Jezebel -; they were talking among themselves, not far behind Jezebel. Sammy Jo was a blonde haired girl with wore a blouse over a pair of jeans with a pair of boots, while Melissa was a slightly chubbier red headed girl that wore a dress, also with boots. The two of them wore matching pearl bracelets. They were a few lockers down, but that didn't stop Jezebel from hearing what they had to say, though part of her thought that they wanted her to hear them.

Sammy Jo was the first to speak, since she was pretty much the leader of the two, "Did you hear that after killing her parents and little brother, she was sent to Hanwell. You know, the mental place, the asylum?"

Melissa spoke in disbelief with a smile, "Really?"

"Yeah, I heard that her great aunt couldn't be bothered with her at first, and was too scared to take care of the freak."

"Wow, she's that crazy, huh?" Melissa asked as Sammy Jo nodded.

Jezebel whispered to herself, holding her books much closer to her chest, "I...I'm not crazy. It really was a demon."   

 


	9. Living Rough

Due to the bullying, Jezebel couldn't take being at school anymore. So what did she do? She dropped out, only telling the three friends that she had. Even from encouragement from those three friends, she refused to tell her aunt. She was 16 when she took these actions. To not give away that she no longer attended school to her aunt, Jezebel still got up every morning and got her uniform on, taking a change of clothes with her in her backpack. She still headed out the door at 8:00 in the morning. To keep herself busy throughout the day, Jezebel would most often find somewhere quiet and sketch or doodle as she preferred. She would have got herself a job, but was much too young and inexperienced for the jobs in London.

One night, Jezebel was sat in her room pretending to do homework, when really she was reading a comic. Aunt Agatha requested her presence, hollering up the stairs. She could definitely hear her aunt and was quite surprised their neighbours didn't every time she shouted cruel insults at Jezebel night after night. This was what she expected: the insults as she walked down the stairs. But, instead her aunt stood at the bottom of the stairs with her arms folded, a stern look on her face.

"Jezebel Connelly, would you like to explain this?" Agatha held up a letter; Jezebel could see her school emblem in the top left corner of the letter, knowing it would most likely be about her attendance.

Jezebel knew her aunt wouldn't accept her reason as an answer, or even wait for an answer for that matter. Jezebel just waited for her aunt to continue. She knew telling her or anyone for that matter about the bullying wouldn't make it go away, but would most likely make it worse and make Jezebel feel worse about it.

It is a letter from your school, do you know why?" Her aunt asked all too harshly; Jezebel shook her head, looking to the floorboards. Her aunt continued, using much crueler words, "Your school wrote to me about your attendance, to tell me that you are not attending school. You are such a disappointment. You know if you hadn't killed your little brother, he would have been a better bet for giving this family something to be proud of. But, you did kill him, didn't you, killer?"

Jezebel tried to hold back the tears that threatened to spill, but failed to do so. She just knew her aunt would use this against her.

"What? Now you feel for them? You don't deserve to grieve for them! You either get a job or get out of this house. If you can't be bothered going to school, then you work. I am not having any of it." Her aunt went on like this for the rest of the night; once she had finished, Jezebel ran to her room.

She packed what was most dear to her and as many clothes as she could fit into the suitcase and her backpack. She grabbed her favourite plush toy: a white unicorn with blonde hair and blue eyes. She waited until her aunt had gone to bed, which was around 10:00 PM, before she snuck out the house.

Jezebel knew of a homeless camp not far from the house, but far enough that she wouldn't see her aunt. She walked until 2:00 in the morning to get to the camp, where she was happily greeted and not asked for a reason to stay. One man, in particular, by the name of Harold - or as he preferred Harry -, made her feel the most comfortable; Harry was the one to make her feel like family, proper family, for once in her life. He showed her the ropes on living life on the street, such as getting food, though it did take her a bit of time to trust him back.

She learnt skills through Harry that she would need on the street, such as stealing what she needed (for instance money) to live. He even taught her guitar using the one he had since losing his home. Jezebel proved that she was quite skilled at both guitar and using her stealth. Even though she was able to bring in just enough money to live off, it was really rough for her. Especially with her gift - she had told a lot of the other homeless, not that they believed her-.     

 


	10. How Jezebel Met John

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jezebel is 18 / John is about 23 at this point

Jezebel was sat one street corner of London, in the pouring rain; she was using the rain as cover for her tears. It was another night she would be on the street. Her head held down. A strange man in a trench coat approached her, though she was too much in her head to realise he had stopped in front of her. 

John Constantine approached her, a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth,  "Who ya running from, kid?" 

Jezebel looked up to face the man talking to her,  "Huh, I'm not running from anybody." 

She tried to smile, only managing a weak small one. John spoke again, the cigarette not budging,  "Yes, you are; otherwise you wouldn't even be sat in the rain, on a street corner, crying, while looking like a hot mess." 

Jezebel frowned, "Wow, rude much." 

A few seconds of awkward silence passed, before John spoke, "Well, who are you running from?" 

Jezebel lowered her head again, much like she was ashamed, "Everyone."

"Nobody understands, huh? Your talent I mean." 

Jezebel raised her head, "How did you know?" 

"Been through it myself. The name's Constantine...John Constantine." 

"I'm Jezebel Connelly."  A small smile appeared on Jezebel's face. 

"Well, Jezebel, come on; I'll give you a place to stay." John held out his hand for her, a half smile on his face; she blushed slightly, staring up at his handsome face. 

Jezebel wiped away her tears with her trench coat sleeve, before taking his hand and he helped her up to her feet, "th-thank you, Constantine."

"Just call me John, love."   


	11. Jezebel's First Job

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is based on a question I/ Jezebel was asked for a Q&A session type thing I did on DeviantArt; it is also based on a scene in the 2005 Constantine movie.

Jezebel's first proper job was a week into staying with John, and it actually involved assisting him with an exorcist; John had taught her the basics of going to an exorcism, and she was actually very excited about it, considering it being her first actual job as an exorcist. An old friend of John's - Father Hennessy - had given him the details over phone. On the journey to the place of the exorcism, which they were driven to by Chas, John gave the details to Jezebel. He told her that it involved a young, Asian girl, and that it could very well be dangerous.

Upon arriving to the apartment building where the young girl lived, Father hennessy greeted them with a solemn look, while Chas waited outside with the cab; he stuck out his hand for John to shake, which he did, "John, it's good to see you again. Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"It's good to see ya too, Hennessy."

"I think...I think I found you a good one." Hennessy stumbled after John and Jezebel.

John stopped, and then faced Hennessy; he raised an eyebrow as he looked at the charm around Hennessy's neck. John took off the necklace that his friend wore, "Come on, you don't need it's protection. It'll be like back in the day."

John patted Father Hennessy's back, before walking off; again, Hennessy stumbled after him, "Yeah, like back in the day... Would you like to tell me who your friend is?"

"Her? She's called Jezebel, and she will be assisting me with today." John continued walking, not turning back, only pointing to Jezebel with a small gesture; Jezebel rolled her eyes as she followed behind the two men, carrying a large duffle bag.

The apartment that they would be doing the exorcism in was rather run down and looked really tatty, but the parents of the young girl were already eagerly waiting at the door for them to arrive. They ushered the 3 of them in; they showed John where the girl was. When they entered the room, they looked around to see that the girl was on the ceiling, upside down; when John entered the room, the possessed girl hissed.

"Well, aren't you a pretty one." Jezebel looked up in wonder at the possessed girl as the others did.

"Funny, I thought I was the one to come up with the smartass lines." John smirked

"You're not the only one who can think quick on their feet." Jezebel smirked back.

"John, how do you suppose to get the girl down?" Hennessy cowered behind John; Jezebel went into the duffle bag.

"With this," She positioned a tube at her mouth, aiming the other end at the girl, who was hissing more; Jezebel shot a sleeping dart at her, causing the girl to fall to the floor with a thud.

Out of instinct her parents went to see if the girl was alright, but John pushed them back, "Your daughter isn't still herself. Stay back. Jezebel, Hennessy, help me strap her to the bed."

John had Jezebel help him heave the girl on to the metal framed bed, while Hennessy got out the ropes from the duffle bag. John and Jezebel positioned the girl so that each limb (legs and arms) were to a post of the bed. John then tied those limbs each with the thick rope that Hennessy had handed to him, very tightly as well. He also told the parents to quickly fetch him a large mirror, which they did. Father Hennessy gathered a few bystanders who watched the events unfold to help hold up the mirror above the girl. Jezebel stood by the side of the bed, waiting with the items John would most likely need.

The possessed girl began waking up, and wasn't happy 'she' was knocked out. John kneeled over the body, "Do you know who I am?"

The girl laughed, and it was very maniac like laugh too that made a lot of the bystanders feel nervous about being there. John repeated what he had asked the demon inside her, "Do. You. Know. Who. I. Am?"

She laughed before replying, "You're John Constantine, who else?"

"That's right, asshole. John Constantine, and I'm here to deport your sorry ass back to Hell." John leaned more into the demon's face, a very serious look on his face. He got up off the demon and approached the window, where he saw Chas waiting beside the cab, "Chas, move the cab!"

"What?"

"Move the damn cab."

"Why?"

"Just move the bloody cab!" John shouted before ducking back into the room; Chas shook his head before actually moving the cab.

While John was busy telling Chas to move the cab, the demon decided have a little talk with Jezebel, "You. You're the one that killed her parents and little brother. The one Lucifer is after. You showed a lot of potential that day. He's very interested in you."

"Shut it, you. You have no business with me! And it wasn't me that murdered them, it was a demon!" Jezebel gritted her teeth, looking like she was ready to throttle the possessed girl; John placed a hand on her shoulder, before climbing back on to the bed.

John knelt back over the demon, giving a hand gesture to Jezebel to hand him the small bible for him to read from, which he recited a spell to get out the demon from the young girl, but before reciting, he told the bystanders that were in the room, "Close your eyes, and whatever you hear, do not look."

"Smile pretty, you vain prick," After reciting, John moved aside so that the demon ended up being trapped in the mirror; John looked over his shoulder and gave the finger to the demon, "For your boss."

John told the people holding the rope holding up the mirror to pull, only for the mirror to become trapped in the window frame, which happened to be too small. John jumped up, and began pulling the rope with the help of Jezebel. They managed to get the mirror free of the frame just in time, as the demon was about to free itself; even though the mirror smashed on the bonnet of the cab, the demon was sent back to Hell. The parents of the girl comforted her as she cried for them. John, Jezebel and Father Hennessy made their way back to the lobby of the apartment building; John said goodbye to his old friend, before they went to the cab, where Chas was waiting with his arms folded and a rather cross look on his face.

"Why would you do that, John? Why would you do that when you know that it isn't my car?" Chas walked up to John, who was lighting a cigarette.

"He told you to move it." Jezebel giggled; she too lit a cigarette, to which John looked at her.

"Right, John. You did. You did tell me to move it, but if you had told me there was a three hundred pound mirror coming through that window with a very pissed off demon, I would have moved it further!" Chas pointed very violently toward the window that the mirror had smashed through.

"I did tell you," John smirked, getting into the cab after Jezebel, who was practically laughing her head off. Because of the mention of her parents and baby brother's murder, Jezebel spent that night drinking the memory away, which John joined her for a while, but stopped her when she had too much.   


	12. Envy

While on a case with Enigma and Dusk, John prepared to go to Hell in search of information; Dusk became curious and asked, "Hey, John, can you get good demons as well as bad?"

"Fuck no, all of 'em need to be banished back to Hell." John didn't look up from what he was doing and continued on.

"But,"

"There's no argument about it, demons are demons and they will always be bad." John turned to face Dusk, a serious look on his face; Dusk backed away, her ears flattened. John continued on preparing for his quick trip to Hell. An hour after his trip from Hell, John was back with big information for their case, but he also brought back something dark.

What John didn't know was that he brought back a demon he had once vanquished to Hell a long time ago; it is one of the 7 sins. The envy demon known as Livia, who was looking for a way into the Equestrian world. Livia came across the Tantibus, the shadow demon that Princess Luna was all too familiar with, and they team up in search of a vessel. They find their way to Dusk, due to how much she envied her friends and how brave they were in her eyes.

They talk among themselves, using whispery voices, "She's the one..."

The tantibus/ Livia were in the form of black, thin smoke, and they laughed to themselves as they pass by Dusk, who was sat alone in her apartment. She looked around, only to find nothing. Nervously, she asked, "Who...Who's there?"

After a few seconds of silence, she asked again; this time a voice answered, one that sounded like it was there, but like it was in her head, "I am Livia. The demon of envy, and you, my dear pony, are a perfect vessel for me."

"W-why would I agree to be your vessel?" What Dusk didn't know was that the more she talked with Livia, the more she would be locked within her mind and the more a physical form of Livia formed.

"Because out of the friends John Constantine has, you have the most envy. Because you deserve to be better."

"What, this is about John?"

"No, of course not, this time it is about you. I just happened to follow him back from Hell."

While Dusk was talking within her head to Livia, John, Jezebel and Enigma trotted into her room to give her updates on the case. Only, they found her in a catatonic-like state. Jezebel was the first to approach her, in an attempt to wake her, by gently shaking her, "Dusk? Dusk! Wake up, c'mon please."

"Belle, I don't think she can hear you." John pulled Jezebel away, only for him to have a closer look at her; he noticed a few things that made him think it was indeed a demon that caused her to be in this state. The first was that there was a black smoke slowly surrounding Dusk at her back hooves.

The second was in her eyes; there was a dark red rim starting to surround her iris. John lifted her chin to get a better view. He could also see that her lips were starting to chap. He looked in his bag to find a small jar that contained what looked like grey dust to someone who wasn't familiar with the supernatural. He took a handful out of the jar and lightly blew some passed Dusk's lips, causing it to show more damage to what was actually shown.

Meanwhile in Dusk's mind, although very smart and could very likely successfully take Dusk's mind by herself, Livia still tried to talk Dusk into letting her possess her. To Dusk, Livia appeared to be like those cheerleader type mares one would typically think of: light blonde hair, blue fur, looks good in a white dress and skinny. The only difference was her blood red iris, and black scalea. She was tall, the size of an alicorn. She had the horn of a steel pony (like King Sombra once was), and the huge, strong wings that a true alicorn was. Livia's looks made Dusk envy her; she felt she wasn't at all beautiful, even when others told her different.

"Come on, Dusk; I can tell you want to be more powerful. More respected." Livia was circling Dusk, like a wolf would its prey, "Think of all those ponies who bullied you, they would love you. Think of how loved your sister is and how 'perfect' she is, she would be nothing compared to you."

Dusk looked like she was on the verge of tears, remembering her past the way she was: it all being piled on top of her like this so suddenly. Her eyebrows furrowed and she put on a brave face, "I would give up my own happiness and desires for others. I will admit that this is true. However, you are mistaken about one thing. I don't want to be powerful. All I ever wanted was to be respected."

"Dusk...Dusk, just imagine how much you would be respected with so much power. Instead of you envying everypony, they would then envy you."

"I...guess it would be nice being the one to be envied for once, instead of being jealous of everypony over every little thing." Dusk looked down to her hooves; Livia smiled, knowing her plan was working, "But,"

At that word, Livia's smile faded and a frown appeared, "But, what, darling?"

"I'm afraid I can't take your offer."

"You'll be wanted. Besides, if you don't take my offer, another will take one of your friends, say the demon of wrath; he just might take a liking to that Enigma pony you like so much. You know, due to how much hatred he has for the world around him. For all those ponies that he hates, though I think it would be much worse for him than it would be for you." Livia's smirk reappeared; she now stood directly in front of Dusk, who looked horrified at one of her friends suffering through a demon possession, "Ah, touched a nerve there, have I?"

"Don't you touch any of them! If I must, then I will do it to stop them from suffering." Dusk tried to stand as tall as she could, in the face of Livia.

"Very well." Livia gave a smaller smile to seem a little more friendly; a black flash surrounded Livia for a quick second, and her true form re-emerged. She wore a shorter, black dress and wore armour that looked like bones. Her mouth, ears and wings looked stitched to her body; her mane and tail looked more ghostly than before, similar to how the main Princesses (Luna and Celestia) have their hair, "Though, I must warn you, it will hurt... just a little."

On the outside of Dusk's mind, Dusk's 3 friends could see that the black smoke had surrounded the entire of her body. John hurried to find the items he required to - possibly - exorcise the demon from her body. Suddenly, blood curdling screams erupted from Dusk; the others quickly looked to her. Her eyes were clamped shut throughout the process, but her wings became more of a shape that demon's wings would be (more ragged). Her fangs became evidently more sharper, and her hair darkened in colour.

As the smoke settled, a more demonic version of Dusk emerged; her wings flapped as she lowered herself to the ground. Jezebel and John looked to each other, mouthing, "Oh shit."

At the sight of the more terrifying looking Dusk, Enigma bolted, as a scared filly would; Jezebel went to chase after him, but he was too fast for her, by the time she realised that he'd gone, "Enigma, you fucking fraidy cat!"

"Ah, John Constantine. I haven't seen you for a while." A voice that did not sound like Dusk spoke; John stopped looking through his bag for the required items, and slowly looked up to face Dusk's new form.

"Livia...? " John looked slightly confused, "Livia, as in the envy demon? I thought I banished your sorry ass to Hell, along with your 6 asshole brothers and sisters."

"Oh, you did, but I managed to escape, when you came back. You should really check who attaches themselves to you, before you come back to this realm." Livia spoke, having Dusk's body smirk for her.

"Livia, what do you want with Dusk?" Jezebel spoke up.

"Aw, did you get yourself a little friend, John? And to answer your question, sweetheart, I don't want her per say, it's more Equestria I want. I needed a vessel, you see, and out of John's little friends, she had the most envy, so I instantly attached myself to her. She's perfect in the sense she can provide so much power to me, since you know I feed on envy. I simply want Equestria for my own."

"Of course you do." Jezebel and John frowned, rolling their eyes.

"Belle, you do realise, I don't know any way to get Livia out of Dusk. She's much too powerful now. The only way to release Dusk from this possession is to actually kill her." John grabbed Jezebel by her shoulders and turned her to face her, giving her a serious look.

"John!" Jezebel pulled away; John turned to face Livia/ Dusk with a demon dagger in his right hand, but Jezebel stood in his path, "I can not believe you are suggesting that! No, there has to be another way, I am not risking my friend's life for that demon!"

"Is that true? I can not believe that John Constantine. The John Constantine is stuck on what to do!" Livia laughed, mocking John, who did not like where this was going; he went to stab her, a look of clear anger on his face, but Jezebel pulled him back.

"You stay outta this!" Jezebel shouted over her shoulder.

"Jezebel, do you have any other ideas? Would saving one life really be worth it, if thousands others are lost, including those of children?" John and Jezebel stood facing each other.

"It is if it's Dusk's life. Please, John, she is one of the only friends that understands me!"

"How else do you suppose we get her out of Dusk then?"

"I don't know, okay!" While the two occult detectives were arguing, Livia frowned for a second before quickly getting an idea; she smiled to herself. She let out a wave beam of magic that sent the two of them flying, landing on the floor. Jezebel walked up to Dusk/ Livia, and tried to reach out to Dusk, "Dusk, I know you are in there! Please if you can hear me, please, you can not let Livia take you."

Jezebel could not continue as she was unfortunately slapped into being thrown across the room; she hit the opposite wall and was knocked unconscious. This seriously pissed off John, and he full on beat her with his magic, only stopping when the 3 of the princesses (Luna, Twilight and Celestia) arrived. While Twilight and Luna dealt with Livia and freed Dusk (Twilight holding her down, while Luna cast the spell, having previously dealt with the tantibus, which was still formed with Livia), Celestia held back John and checked on Jezebel, who was okay apart from a minor concussion. The spell that Luna would cast would not permanently rid of the demon and tantibus, but would make them stay dormant and put her to sleep for a while. They had not long gotten back from Manehattan.

To keep an eye on her, Celestia and Luna took Dusk to their castle back in Canterlot. Though it took her a couple of weeks to wake, Luna entered Dusk's mind to help her learn how to deal with the demons in her mind. Enigma explained to John and Jezebel that he had warned the princesses and that his friends needed his help. John and Jezebel argued a fair bit over those two weeks over the conversation that they had in that room; the 'talk' involved a lot of swearing from both, though mainly Jezebel. News got to Dusk's friends, and they become angry with Enigma for running away the way he did, and with John for even thinking of killing Dusk.   

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a pony based chapter and will be written with the pony counterparts of the characters involved. Collab of sorts with a friend (she doesn't have any social media) :3


	13. Jinxy

Angel was invited to a Halloween party and was allowed to take up to 3 guests, so she chose Jezebel and Charlotte, while knowing Jezebel would most likely have John tag along as well. The party was held by an old friend of Angel's, one she knew from primary school. She told Jezebel that her friend was called Jeanette, and that was basically it, other than that she really loved Halloween, meaning that she would most likely go over board compared to most people.

Jezebel and Angel were huge fans of the hit TV series, Supernatural, so they chose costumes from the show to go as; Jezebel also chose John's costume, so that he fit in with the theme. Angel would go as Sam Winchester, while Jezebel went as Castiel, leaving John to go as Dean Winchester, not that he knew who he was going as. Angel left the two to change in the lodge, while she went to where the party was being held: an old warehouse, since she was already dressed and was to help out. Charlotte went with her too, going as Gabriel.

Jezebel finished preparing her costume, adding the final touch: the large, black angel wings; she struggled to get them right, since they were on her back, so she called, "John! Come here, I need your help!"

"What?" John appeared in the doorway, not looking at all impressed.

"Can you help me attach my wings?" Jezebel fluttered her eyelashes, trying to look as innocent as she could; this made John laugh.

He went behind Jezebel and helped tie the wings to her back as secure as he could get without hurting her. He paused what he was doing, causing Jezebel to ask what was up, "Belle, I'm not so sure about this costume."

"Nonsense John, that costume was made for you." Jezebel smiled over her shoulder; John continued to tie the wings, quickly finishing.

"How so?" John raised an eyebrow, just as Jezebel faced him with a bright smile.

"Well, for one, you and Dean are a lot more alike than you think."

"Uh-huh and what else makes you think that this 'costume was made for me' as you put it?"

"Umm, haven't quite figured that out. Other than you look damn good." Jezebel quickly turned on her feet.

"What was that last bit, didn't quite get that?" John quickly followed after her, not getting an answer; because Chas was with his family for the holiday, John was the one to drive them to the party.

Upon arriving at the warehouse where the party, there wasn't anyone to be seen other than the odd few; Jezebel just guessed they were all inside. John parked the car up, before they got out and walked to the warehouse entrance, which was done up remarkably. John and Jezebel decided to join the people outside in having a cigarette, before they actually went in. The few people that were left outside started to pile into the warehouse. Commotion started, when one of the 'decorations' started to move on its own even though there was no wind, causing everyone, but John and Jezebel to back away.

The 'decoration' in question was meant to be a female version of Billy the puppet from the top horror franchise - Saw; she paused when she saw that John and Jezebel weren't scared, and they - in sync - dropped their cigarettes, and smooshed them with their right foot, "Wait, didn't that scare you guys?"

"We deal with this sorta shit day in, day out, love." John raised an eyebrow

"Wow, you guys sure know how to stay in character. Adorable couple you are." The girl giggled, ushering the rest of the guests inside as she talked.

"He's not in character, he doesn't even know who Dean Winchester is - yet. We really do deal with things like this every day." Jezebel smiled, and then held out her hand, "You must be Jeanette, Angel's friend?"

"Jinxy. I prefer Jinxy." Jinxy's smile faded for a second, before she took Jezebel's hand and shook it rather violently, "Wait, that means you two are John and Jezebel, right?"

"Right," Jezebel smiled back, "And we're not a couple by the way, we were just sticking to the theme of Supernatural."

"Oh, that's still cute! You make a great Destiel." Jinxy giggled again.

"What's Destiel?" John generally sounded confused.

"We'll show you later," Jezebel smirked, "Jinxy, do you know where Charlotte and Angel are? They told me they'd already be here when I got here."

"Yeah, they're inside; c'mon, I'll take you to them." Jinxy grabbed the sleeves of John and Jezebel's costumes and dragged them inside, where they saw was just extraordinarily decorated as the outside of the warehouse, though at the same time not as much due to having to fit a lot of people in. 


	14. Coulrophobia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coulrophobia = Fear of clowns, just in case anyone was unsure :3 Also warning, mention of clowns in this chapter for anyone with that fear.

It was a while since their last job - Jezebel's first -, and while waiting for their next, they kept busy; while waiting, John helped Jezebel improve on her magic. John looked back over to the map, where they usually got hints on where to go for their cases, and this time he spotted a wet bit. He rushed over, knocking Jezebel's concentration, to see that the blood spot was set in Gotham City and to be more precise Sheldon Park. He began searching of anywhere that would give hints to what was going on with success. He found that there was currently a circus in Gotham City and there were murders on the circus grounds.

The circus that they were to investigate was Haly's Circus, where the famous Flying Graysons were performing. Using Chas as their transport, John and Jezebel made their way to the scene of the crime, or rather crimes, to investigate due to the fact that the articles claimed there was not many suspects - at least not live ones -. John, on the other hand, had his own suspicions. There were 2 live suspects, and John's first agenda was to interview them. He used his 'psychic' card - one that showed an FBI profile - to get into the prison.

Before going into the interview room, where the first suspect sat waiting, Jezebel pulled John aside, "John, can I be bad cop this time? Please? Please?"

"Ugh, fine. Just don't mess it up." John sighed before slamming the door open, "Good afternoon, mate. I'm Detective Connelly, and this is my partner Detective Constantine."   
  


"Ooo, is she gonna be the good cop?" The suspect smirked.

"No, I fucking ain't, now, you better get talking and tell us what you know." Jezebel slammed her hands down on the table that the suspect was handcuffed to, startling him slightly.

"What do you know about the victims that were murdered? Did you know them personally?" John asked folding his arms and propping himself against the table.

"I didn't know them personally no."

"Then why does that make you a suspect in our books?" Jezebel stood behind John, starting to circle the table.

"I don't know..."

"Explain why you were at the murder scene?" John continued with his questioning.

"I was there attending the circus showing, why else."

"Stop with the attitude, mate, and just answer the questions." Jezebel got up into his face, causing him to go wide eyed and lean away; she nodded for John to continue.

"Where were you at the time of the murder?"

"As I said, I was watching the performance."

"The performance was over by the time the murder occurred, smart ass." Jezebel narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, I was talking to the Graysons, since they are personal friends of mine."

"Then why didn't they tell us that?" Jezebel continued

"They have a kid to look after; they don't want the press on them. I don't know."

"Well, you better start thinking." The dim lighting - the only source coming from the lamp on the desk - in the room actually made Jezebel look a lot more intimidating than she actually was.

"You know, you're scary as hell." The suspect actually looked frightened for life.

"Why, thank you. I do try my best" Jezebel smirked proudly, that was until she realised what she had done: given away their game; John facepalmed himself, "Oh crap. Let me try that again."

"Ha, I fucking knew you were a good cop."

John grew tired of the games that they played; he slammed his hands down full force on the table, "Look. No more games, yer piece of shit. Tell me what you know. Now!"

The suspect must have been truly frightened because he started to spill a lot of secrets that the circus held, such as their being someone with a grudge on the circus owner. John and Jezebel's next task was to interview the next suspect, and this time Jezebel left it to John - to save time, more or less. They got almost the same - and more - out of him. With the information they now had, John and Jezebel went to the actual scene of the crime to investigate further. They wandered around the circus grounds.

A mist causes them to get separated, and a very strong one at that. John ended up bumping into the strongman of the circus - Samson -, and ended up being questioned. Jezebel, on the other hand, ended up outside the hall of mirrors and the Haunted House. She paused for a moment to realise where she actually was within the circus. She suddenly realised how creepy the circus actually was: with the torn up tents, and the look of abandonment everywhere. The mist added to that creepiness of it all. She leant against one of the random wooden barrels placed around, to sort out her boots, since one of her socks had fallen down; that was when she heard what sounded like a young child crying. She looked up, listening hard, finding out it came from the Hall of Mirrors.

Wanting to help the child out, Jezebel followed the noise, trying as best as she could to keep it in earshot. It wasn't until she was deep in the maze of mirrors that she realised that the noise wasn't actually coming from one place, but all around her. She stopped to take in her surroundings and plan an exit strategy. That was when the true horror started. Many of the victims had white face paint and red lipstick smeared on their faces, much like someone would do when kissing or in close contact. This lead most people to believe a clown was behind it, and this was indeed the case, except for one thing: the clown wasn't alive.

In the mirror in front of Jezebel, there stood the clown. A circus legend in all kinds of ways: good and bad. He was known for murders while he was alive as well, and was considered quite evil. Though, he didn't apparently start this way: he was the most kind hearted clown, but somehow he snapped. The image in front of Jezebel was terrifying enough with all the clown makeup, but what made it even more so was that his jaw hung off with only a small piece of skin keeping it attached, thread went through parts of his skin around the edges and looked as it were keeping the skin in place. He had no eyelids, looked as if they had been burnt right off. His clothing: a what-was-colourful-now-faded wig showing parts of his brain, the baggy faded clothing had rips and tears in them all over, and bits of blood dried in, big parts of blood.

The feeling of trapped wasn't enough, but now the clown taunted with her; he started playing mind games on which way was the right way out. He surrounded her, using the mirrors to make her feel so much more trapped than she really was. The clown used this trick of the mirrors to corner Jezebel, who had by now covered her face with her hands.

"Jezzy," A small familiar voice came from in front of her; she slowly looked up and saw Max. She saw her baby brother in the mirror, "Jezzy, why are you upset?"

"Max?" Jezebel looked confused, that was until she saw the ghost clown walk up behind her brother, taking his hand; the clown took out a knife, and she went to warn her brother, "Maxy, look out!"

It was too late, the hallucination of her brother was now one of horror, once the clown had done his job. He looked like he did the day he was murdered. He was covered from head to toe in blood. His own blood. His neck looked twisted and distorted. He had so many cuts and bruises.

"Why didn't you save me, Jezzy? Why?" Max's voice trailed off, as Jezebel put her head back in her hands. She took a curled up position, knees to chest.

"Oh, Jezebel, you are so much like us dark spirits, here, at Haly's Circus." The clown's voice spoke surprisingly clearly considering the condition his jaw was in, "You have something dark inside you too, just waiting to come out."

"No! No! No!" Jezebel repeated, shaking her head and her hands now over her ears

"Such a pity that you won't give in." The clown continued; he stepped out of the mirror, coming closer to Jezebel, who looked up for just a second.

She wanted so badly to scream. She felt alone and cornered, like there was nothing she could do. Her breathing began to hitch, becoming quicker and causing her to have shortness of breath. Her heartbeat quickened, becoming much more rapid. He continued to step closer, causing Jezebel's breathing to quicken much more and her to go further into the corner - if that were possible.

Suddenly, the clown started screaming himself; Jezebel looked to see him slowly - and quite terrifyingly - melt away. John had performed a quick exorcist to rid of the ghost for now. He knelt in front of Jezebel to check for injuries. He found none, other than how terrified she was. She looked like she had just witnessed her brother's murder all over again, and technically she did.

"Belle, look at me. C'mon, copy my breathing. C'mon, you're safe now, you're with me." He tried to get her to copy his breathing techniques - ones he had to show her often due to her panic attacks from the often nightmares of the murder -, but that was proving difficult for a short while; he managed to slow her breathing a tiny bit.

Thinking that staying in the place she was just attacked would not be a good idea, John picked up the paralysed with fear Jezebel, bridal style, and walked out the way he had come in - his own way -. Due to that incident that night in the Hall of Mirrors, Jezebel developed a serious case of Coulrophobia - fear of clowns. John even had to deal with the case by himself, with a little help from Chas here and there. 

 


	15. Barney 'Barnacle'

John was lounging on the couch, having a few drinks; his tie was very loosely around his neck, almost undone. He was thinking, mostly about the past. That was until his mobile started vibrating. He was tempted to just leave it, but he wanted something to do, so he picked up. It was his niece, Gemma.

"Gemma?" John generally sounded shocked since he wasn't used to her calling, "What do you want?"

The conversation must have lasted about 10 minutes, but Gemma had urgent business back in London and she needed John to sort out her problem for her. It must be really bad if she couldn't sort it herself, and John thought maybe it was her that caused the problem, which she kind of made out to be. She didn't tell John much in the 10 minutes they were talking, but what she did tell him was that there was a string of murders within London, and it was pretty obvious that a demon was involved (well to the ones that knew what demons could do). She also told him that all the victims' organs were emptied out, but the actual cause of death - even though none of them were nowhere near water - was drowning.

He was sure he would need at least a little assistance, so he thought who best than Jezebel. John was about to call Jezebel, who had gone out to get their food - pizza -, when she walked through the door with Chas; They carried about 3 bags each. John bounded up eager to get his food, as he claimed he was 'starving'. Over their food, John told Chas and Jezebel of the conversation he had with his niece and that they would need to get to London fast.

"Sorry, John, it's my turn with Geraldine." Chas announced before taking a bite of his slice.

"Yeah, I can come with you." Jezebel smiled, "just one thing, how will we get there?"

"No idea yet." John took a swig of his drink.

"Wait, I think I know someone! He's got his own boat so could take us!" Jezebel ran of, taking her phone with her, "I think he's in Atlanta at the moment, so he might not mind. I'll give him a call now!"

"Him?" John frowned, watching as Jezebel eagerly went off.

The next day, Jezebel had to run some errands before she met up with her friend that was giving her and John and ride across seas, so she would be running late. She told John to go ahead and go to e pier. John was stood on the pier front for at least half an hour to an hour, before a handsome, young man around his own age with red hair strutted up to him. The guy had a smirk on his face, and seemed to be eyeing John up.

"You got a problem, mate?" John asked as he lit a cigarette, only giving a small glance to him.

"Hmm, you must be John Constantine." He continued to look John up and down, still smiling, "Day-yum, Jezzy was right; you are a pretty boy."

Not expecting a comment like that to come out of the guy's mouth, John's cigarette dropped out of his mouth to the floor, and he leaned back with a raised eyebrow, "Wait, what?"

"Hey, Barney!" Jezebel's voice came from behind them; she jogged up to them carrying a large duffel bag which was half the size of her, "I see you've met my partner, John."

"Yes, I did." Barney smirked, getting slightly closer to John, who moved to behind Jezebel; she let out a small laugh.

"John, Barney here is a bisexual and he tends to like what he sees a lot of the time, which he will shamelessly admit."

"You know it, Jezzy." Barney smirked, leading the way to his ship.

"Well, ya could have told me that before." John followed behind them, carrying the duffel bag that Jezebel was carrying with ease.

Barney's ship was beautiful, and it was like being on an actual pirate ship. Jezebel loved it and couldn't wait to look around it. Her first thought was to look at her room and get settled; she eagerly went off with the duffel bag, after snatching it off John, leaving John and Barney alone. Barney began preparing the ship for setting off, and asking John for help with the two or more man jobs (though he didn't need much help with most jobs, including some of those).When the preparation was completed, Barney headed for the wheel, telling one of his crew members to raise the anchor. They set sail for London.

John joined Barney at the ship wheel, leaning against the mast as he lit a cigarette; he stood there, in thought for a while, that was until Barney asked, "What you thinking about, good lookin'?"

John cleared his throat before speaking, raising an eyebrow, "So, tell me, how did you and Belle meet?"

"That's actually a funny story, mate:   
I guess I should start with what I was doing before we met; I was around 8 when we met, and she 7. You see, even as a boy, I had a love of the sea. I would tend to search caves, mostly in search of an adventure, but I would happen to come across a treasure from time to time, and - I must admit - that there was no exception for Jezzy. I began exploring a cave quite far down the beach, a really big one at that, and upon entering I could hear someone crying or at least I thought I did.   
  
I entered further into the cave, not coming across anything and just putting it down to the wind. That was until I tripped on something hard, must've been a rock, I guess. I ended up falling down into a pit. Jezebel must have heard me yell, because the next minute, she was over the pit, asking if I was alright. Unfortunately, I wasn't, I fractured my ankle on the way down. Her head moved away from the pit for just a second, and then the next she was jumping down into the pit herself. Funny, I thought, why would she risk herself for a perfect stranger. We talked until, what must have been sunset; she helped put a splint on my ankle to help keep it in place. What I thought funny about the way we met, I thought I was going to be the hero at first, turns out she was. I think it was around 10 at night before my parents - who were archaeologists and knew of my 'adventures' - came into the cave calling for me. I shouted to them about where I was and that I wasn't alone. They helped us out, and took us home. After that, we didn't stop being friends and became very close, we told each other everything."

"Huh, cute," John smirked slightly, "So, you didn't stop contact, not one bit?"   
  
"Well, we did when she went... to that place."   
  
"Ya mean the asylum?" John frowned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Barney looked so angry now, "I don't know why they sent her there. It was pretty clear there was something special about her."

"You know of her gift?"

"Yeah, I told you, we told each other everything."

"Fair enough,"   

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While based on the older generation of a pony with the name Barnacle, and that being the character's pony counterpart' in human form, Barnacle is simply a nickname.


	16. Undercover

Prologue: 

John and Jezebel were on a very important case, that could potentially get them to save the world, but the thing was, the person they were after was rich, and super rich at that. They had no way of getting near him unless they suddenly became that rich, which was unlikely; on the other hand, there was a party that night, and it was hosted by the guy - Mr Jones - that hired them to sort out 'the problem'. John came up with the plan that he and Jezebel go undercover.

He decided that he should disguise himself as something that could get into the kitchen's and other rooms, in a way no one would notice, while he told Jezebel to go as a countess to interview the guests. This would mean she would have to have to dress up.

"What, John, have you gone mad? I am not wearing anything like that!" She pointed to one of the dresses that a woman standing next to the man they were after wore in the photo.

"C'mon Belle, think about it; you'll be the one to most likely blend in, wha' with ya London accent and all." John smirked, receiving a punch in the shoulder from Jezebel.

"Yeah, well, I don't do dresses and heels, and frilly-fru-fru shit." Jezebel pouted, folding her arms.

"Ya know it doesn' 'ave to be 'fru-fru' as you put it; it can be somethin' of your choice, as long as it's somethin' that those high society class acts would wear." John said, while reading up on the case.

"Fine," Jezebel huffed

Chapter 1.

Jezebel had told her best friends Angel and Jinxy of the events that she and John were to take part in; Jinxy excitedly took that as they were going together, while Angel instantly asked what she would wear to something like that. Jezebel thought about it and the only idea she could come up with was that she was wearing a dress. Angel offered to take Jezebel shopping to look her best.

"Angel, you don't need to do that." Jezebel commented about her friend's idea.

"Nonsense, Jezzy; we're best friends and it's the least I can do." Angel sweetly smiled

Later that day, Jezebel, Angel and Jinxy went into the town centre to find something perfect for the party; after a long day of sore feet and long walks, the girls eventually found what they were looking for. In the end, Angel helped Jezebel pick a long red dress, that had slits down the sides. It fit perfectly around Jezebel's figure, and Angel even let her friend borrow her heels.

"Girls, I don't think I look good in this." Jezebel said from her bathroom, peeking out the door, as her friends helped her get dressed; they looked at each other, and then both gave a serious look to Jezebel.

"Get your butt out here and show us!" Both girls exclaimed with excitement.

"Ugh," Jezebel rolled her eyes, with a smile; she walked out bare-footed carrying the heels in her hands.

"What the hell are you on about, Jezzy; that dress looks perfect on you!" Jinxy smiled widely.

"Yeah, Jinxy's right!" Angel smiled, "That dress looks perfect on you."

"You guys really think so?" Jezebel slightly smiled.

"Of course!" Both Angel and Jinxy exclaimed, making Jezebel blush.

"Thanks, girls."

There came a knock at the door, "Girls, is Jezebel in there with you?"

It was John; Jezebel replied, "Yeah, John, just give us a minute."

Jezebel opened the door, smiling; John stood there dumbfounded, a half smirk on his face and the cig that he did have in the corner of his mouth was now on the floor, "What's up, John?"

"Woah, *clears throat* Belle, I need us to go through with wha' we're gonna ask the people we need to ask." John tried to keep a straight face, only to fail and smile like an idiot.

"Okay, let me just get back into my normal clothes, and I'll be right there." Jezebel smiled sweetly before going back into her room; he nodded slowly as she slowly closed the door.

When the door was closed, Jinxy fangirled, "So what did Mr Loveboy think of your dress?"

"I guess he thought it was good; he didn't say much, just looked a bit dumbfounded at first." Jezebel half smiled.

"AH! That means he loved it on her! Angel, did you hear that?!" Jinxy basically screamed; Jezebel laughed to herself as she went into the bathroom to change.

Chapter 2.

At the end of the week, it was the party and Jezebel was very nervous, with it being her first high society party; she didn't know how she would supposed to act at one either. Jezebel had her friends help her get ready again - Angel on makeup, while Jinxy was on hair. She had her hair down, slightly over her face and curled at the tips; light makeup: slight blush, light pink eyeshadow and black eyeliner. She also had a dark shade of red lipstick on, which went perfect with her dress.

John wore a bartender's outfit: a white shirt underneath a black waist coat, black dress pants and black dress shoes, along with a black tie. He would have his dirty blonde hair slicked back. It was also a good thing he knew a bit of bartending tricks to help with the undercover part of the case either that or he could use his magic to make it look like he was good at it, much like an illusion.

Jezebel commented with a wink as he walked out of his own en-suite bathroom, "Lookin' good, Constantine."

"Not bad lookin' yerself, Miss Connelly." John bowed like a gentleman would at one of those high society parties, smirking; Jezebel smiled at how proper John was trying to be, despite his Liverpudlian accent slipping in, "Now that we've got that out the way, are ya ready to go?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, sweetie." Jezebel smirked, grabbing her red clutch purse; the two of them headed out the door, to meet the taxi - in other words Chas - that waited outside the lodge, arm in arm. The journey to the large mansion only took 30 minutes from the lodge where John and Jezebel lived. John thought it be best if he went around the back, so that when someone that looked of high class entered with someone that looked like staff, it wouldn't look suspicious.

The man of the mansion already knew of John and Jezebel's plan: how they were to attend the party, so he gave John a key pass to get into the back door of the mansion, where the staff entered and exited. He entered getting a few looks from the older members of staff that worked for the man of the house; John, though, just shrugged off the looks and carried on his way to the bar he was to work at that night.

Meanwhile, Jezebel waited in the gardens, trying to control herself; her breathing becoming faster as she struggled with her anxiety. She thought about the methods John had taught her with controlling her breathing when she felt she was going to have a panic attack. She began the breathing exercises he had taught her, using her hands to fan her face and cool her down. She took deep breaths and let them out.

Once she felt she was ready, she exited the gardens only to bump into a 'stranger' or so she thought; it was the guy that Mr Jones told them about, Jason Marsh. He had pale white skin, and dressed in mostly black. He looked like some sort of count to her.

"Oh excuse me, miss...?" He helped her up; Jezebel realised he wore gloves, black leather ones.

"Connelly. Jezebel Connelly." She smiled, allowing him to help her up as she took his hand.

  
"What a lovely name for a lovely lady." He smirked; it almost scared her, but she also saw that his canine teeth were a lot sharper than most people's. She smiled again, realising that he might notice. She blushed slightly, his accent getting to her. He had a sort of Irish accent, but it seemed high class at the same time.

"Thank you..." She hinted for his name, even though she already knew it; she tilted her head to look more interested.

"Jason Marsh." He smiled, narrowing his eyes slightly, "Miss Connelly, if I may ask, why are you out in the garden by yourself?"

"Oh, I...just needed a bit of fresh air."

"Really, I don't think I saw you come in, and trust me I would have noticed someone as... beautiful as yourself." He looked like he was subtly looking her up and down.

"Oh, I was just about to come in, but then I thought... I needed a cigarette." She sweetly smiled going into her clutch to get out the packet of cigarettes.

"A pretty lady, like you, smokes?" Jason frowned, raising an eyebrow.

Jezebel frowned, attitude dripping from her when she spoke, "And why is that a problem?"

"Oh, no; I did not mean to offend you, my dear. I find it perfectly okay, I do so myself." Jason smiled

"Oh?" Jezebel smiled back; he took out a lighter, and then he lit one for her. He took out his own pack of cigarettes and lit one for himself. They spent most of the night talking and laughing.

"Would Miss Connelly care to dance with me?" Jason asked tipping his head, and taking a small bow. Shocked Jezebel, didn't know what to say, so instead just nodded 'yes', "Fantastic, come along."

He smiled, offering for her to link arms, which she did; they walked to the main hall, which was where the band were playing. They slow danced to the music, happiness clear on their faces. On the other side of the room, John watched closely. He growled to himself with the palms of his hands placed firmly on the bar, ignoring an old man waiting to be served, "Excuse me, young man? Young man! I would like to order a drink!"

Chapter 3.

Later that night, Jason excused himself for a few minutes, while Jezebel went to get herself 'a drink'. She went to actually talk with John, who still looked flustered with the moment she had shared with the man they were after.

"John, psst, John come over here." She signalled for him to come over; he did and she noticed how flustered he looked, "John, what's wrong? You look pissed off at something?"

"*grits teeth* Oh, *un-grits teeth* some pissy first class twat was annoying me, is all; so wha's up?" John smiled.

"I found that guy we were looking for, but..."

"But, what?"

"I don't think it's him. He may look strange, but he's.... he's harmless."

"Jezebel, we were hired to take care of him. To investigate him. Now, you've done your part, let me do mine." John stormed off in the other direction, tending to the old man on the other end; Jezebel sighed and walked off to meet with Jason, "Yeah, yeah, I'm gettin yer fucking drink."

Suddenly, a scream came from the other side of the hall, in one of the side corridors. Most of the guests rushed to where it came from; John lept over the bar, and ran to where the guests were rushing to. Jezebel followed, trying to keep up as best as she could in the heels she was in. Turned out, there was a body in the middle of the hallway. A dead body.

John examined the body to find bite marks separated by a small distance; it also looked as if a lot of blood had drained from her too. He spotted a couple of claw type marks on both her shoulders, giving the idea that she had been held against her will, before having the blood sucked out of her. The guests waited for an explanation and he gave it to them straight, telling them that it was indeed a vampire. Some laughed and some looked serious.

The paramedics carried off the body, out of sight, once the police and crime scene investigators were done. By then, the guests had calmed a little from all the commotion, and John was able to put together a little something to deal with the vampire, but gave it to Jezebel to protect her. She offered to be bait and so - after a lot of nagging that she was old enough to handle it herself - she shall. John and Jezebel separated going back to their cover.

Jason joined back with Jezebel; his skin tone looking a little better. Jezebel got a little bit suspicious, but then it went away. She didn't think he had the heart to do such a crime. John on the other hand didn't let his feelings or thoughts cloud his judgement - he knew it was Jason.

Chapter 4.

He began looking for clues, once everyone - apart from the staff, Mr Jones, Jason and, of course, Jezebel - had gone home. He found that the victims in the area around the mansion were chosen at random, including the one from that night, and they weren't all female; but, one thing that stood out was that everyone of them had claw marks on their shoulders, meaning that the 'vampire' was tall and had enormous strength. He previously noticed that the latest victim had a clove of garlic by her hand, meaning it rolled out when she was dropped. This probably meant that the vampire they were looking for had a burn mark on one of his hands.

He approached Jezebel, getting a snide comment from Jason, "Bartender, how dare you approach us; now go off and get us punch."

"I'll give ya a fucking punch...right in the face, mate. Now, shut up. I need a talk with my partner." John pulled Jezebel away; he told her of the clues that he had found, "So, wha' did you find out?"

"Well, I haven't found much out on the vampire or the victims, but found out that Jason's parents used to own this place, before Mr Jones bought the place off them. Well, Jason said he practically stole it from them. He also said that there has been a lot of killings in the last few weeks, all random.."

"Jezebel, I'm not interested in what Mr high society thinks or says, I'm interested in facts." John was evidently getting flustered again. "And the fact is, that he is definitely the man behind these murders!"

"John Constantine, it is not like you to jump to conclusions. How dare you. Jason is not the man we are looking for."

"Wanna bet? Tell 'im to take off his gloves then."

"What? Why?"

"Because the guy we are looking for should have a mark on one of his hands. A burn mark. He would also have sharp-ish nails." He folded his arms, becoming slightly impatient.

"Ugh, fine." Jezebel turned to Jason; John looked pretty smug that he had the man they were after, "Jason, would you kindly take off your gloves?"

"Uh, o-kay." Jason did as he was asked, revealing that he did not have either of the clues John came up with; Jezebel thanked Jason, before pulling John away.

"See, I fucking told you! Now, John, go do some proper detective work." Jezebel turned her back on John, who was pretty shocked with her, and she strutted back to Jason. John got a smirk from Jason, over Jezebel's shoulder as he hugged her, escorting her to the bathroom.

"Fucking asshole, I knew it!" John ran after them, only to find no one in the hallway they had just been down; he looked to his left and saw the ladies' toilets and just guessed Jezebel was in there. But, where was Jason, since he was too much of a gentleman to go in after her.

"I'm up here, John Constantine." John looked up to see Jason crawling on the ceiling; he quickly jumped down, knocking out John in an instant.

Chapter 5.

Jezebel walked out the bathroom to see Jason wasn't there. She looked down to see a small drop of blood. She quickly went to the conclusion that John must have done something to him, so went to the main hall with the guess that they would be there: John creating something to rid of the so-called 'vampire', while Jason was probably knocked out. But, that wasn't the case, since no one was in the main hall at all, not even the staff or Mr Jones.

At the same time, John was slowly awaking; his vision slightly blurred and when he tried to move found it difficult to do so. He groaned in pain, his head banging. As his vision began to clear up, he realised he was in a dark room, one that wasn't far from the main hall. He suddenly saw something move in the shadows.

"John Constantine, trust that old fool to hire you to 'deal' with me! Ha, like you could do that. You deal with little demons, not vampires." Jason slowly emerged from the shadows, hands behind his back, intertwined with one another.

"Maybe not, but my partner is a monster hunter and she will beat yer ass, mate. Ya know Jezebel, right? Excellent monster hunter, poor detective." John smirked, only to receive a slap from Jason across his right cheek. It left a bright red handprint, and John's smirk disappeared. He basically gave Jason evils, as Jason strolled around the chair that John was tied to.

"No, because she loves me! Jezebel would not betray me!"

"Why? Because she's 'under your spell'? Because she loves ya? No, mate, ya got that wrong." John smirked again, "She don't love ya, she's just doin' 'er job."

Jason was getting furious, which was obvious when his fangs grew to twice their size. He took off his gloves; a look of business was on his face, "I'll show you! You do not speak that way of her! She does love me, she does!"

"Ha, mate, she's playing ya for a fool." John saw that Jason was getting dangerously close; Jason quickly snatched up John, along with the chair. Jason had picked him up by the neck, his claws digging into John's neck, making it harder for him to breath.

"No, Constantine, you are wrong, and with you out of the way, she will become my queen." Jason dropped John, when they both heard heels clicking passed the door.

"Belle! Belle, in here!" He tried hard to shout, getting a croaky kind of sound out; the clicking stopped and he tried again, only for Jason to press his foot against John's throat.

On the other side of the door, Jezebel was halfway down the long corridor when she heard what sounded like a weak version of John's voice. She stopped in her tracks to listen carefully, and she just about heard his voice being cut off. Jezebel burst through the door, to see John being dragged by his feet down a secret passage. She saw a small look of terror in his eyes as he disappeared behind the wall.

She narrowed her eyes, "Alright, vampire you wanna play the hard way, let's play the hard way."

Jezebel ripped her dress up to just below the knees, to make it easier for her to run; she also took off her heels and threw them to the floor, revealing that she wore skin coloured tights. She looked around for a weapon, finding a large crucifix in the drawer next to the bed. She grabbed it and ran after John and Jason. She was furious, no one messed with John except her.

She followed the passage until she heard tortured screams from the opposite end. She ran as fast as she could, following those screams. Coming to the end, she found the dungeons and in the dungeons she saw John chained to a wall, being tortured by none other than Jason.

"Jason, so help me, if you touch him one more time, I'll burn your sorry ass!" Jezebel held up the crucifix like she was ready to whack him; he approached her and she swung, only just missing him.

"Please, my dear Jezebel. You don't understand, he is in the way of us being together. He needs to die."

"What the fuck? He's my best friend! You can't just do that!"

"But, don't you love me? I could tell by the way you laughed and talked with me tonight?" Jason seemed like he was back to his innocent self.

"Jason, we've only just met..."

"So, did it not feel like true love to you? It did for me!" Jason looked like his heart would break - if he had one that is-.

"Jason, I...I do love you." Jezebel looked down, and then back at him with a sweet smile, "But, you can't do this to John; I would never forgive you. He took me in when I needed somewhere to go. Please, for me, don't hurt him anymore."

"As you wish, my queen." Jason snapped his fingers and the restraints let go of John, dropping him to the ground; he was incredibly wounded from all the torture.

"Jason, tell me something; why did you kill those people?" Jezebel looked seriously at Jason

"I...I was so hungry. My master would not feed me." Jason hung his head.

"Your master? Jason, who is your master?" Jezebel took hold of Jason's face with both hands on either side of his face.

Then Jason told her something unexpected, "Mr Jones."

"That son of a bitch; he played us." John had quickly recovered; clearly he had used a healing spell.

"How did he heal so fast? Is he a creature of the undead also?" Jason looked a little excited by this.

"No, let's just say he's a magician of some sorts. C'mon let's go get that son of a bitch!" Jezebel took Jason's hand and they ran after John, who was mumbling to himself. They approached Mr Jones, only for John to punch him in his face.

"That's for lying to us, you fucking twat!" John narrowed his eyes, "You told us that this... man was a monster and that he was out to get you! You're his fucking master!"

"He only killed those people because of you. Because you would not feed him those substitutes." The extra information was found out during their chase after Mr Jones, "It's your fault they're dead, not Jason's!"

"I knew you two would find out sooner or later and that may be so, but no one would be alive to tell anyone. Not even you two!" Mr Jones ordered two of his 'butlers' to restrain John and Jezebel; he ordered at least 3 to pin down Jason. John also proved difficult to restrain, so had an extra man restrain him. Jezebel quickly thought, she could use the crucifix in her hand to get out.

She headbutted the one man restraining her, grabbed the crucifix and whacked the two guys holding John, who was ready for action the second he was let go. She then went on to hit the three holding down Jason. Once that was taken care of, John ran after Mr Jones, who had taken it upon himself to run during the fight. John eventually caught the old bugger, and it didn't take him long either. When the crazy events were over, Jason reclaimed his house and claimed a kiss from Jezebel, receiving an eye roll from John.    


	17. Guitar Solo

One morning, Jezebel woke to complete quietness and a note on the fridge: 'Belle, gone to get some supplies. Be back in a couple hours. John'. Silently fist pumping the air, Belle got a quick something to eat; she looked through the cupboards and fridge, and decided to make some toast. It took a couple of minutes for the toast to be just right for her, and because she felt lazy, she didn't put anything on it.

Eating her toast, Jezebel decided to explore the lodge a bit more. She looked in wonder at all the fantastic objects and collectables that John had, most in order to complete special exorcisms or to banish demons. She walked into a box, almost tripping over it, "woah,"

She looked in the box, to find pretty much junk, except for an awesome looking guitar. It was mainly a red colour, but with a black fire pattern on the body. She looked it up and down; she then looked back in the box to see if there was an amp of some sort, which there luckily was. She checked the amp to see if it was good to go, and plugged in the guitar. She tuned it and then began playing a couple of short, practise songs to remind herself on how to play.

A bit later, and she got too into playing it; so much in fact, that she never noticed John and Chas walk in. They look around in confusion at who could be playing the guitar, until they find Jezebel rocking out. They stood gobsmacked and in awe as they watched her play.

She still hadn't noticed them stood there, that was until John said, "I didn't know you could play, Belle?"

"Oh, hey, John," She stopped suddenly, blushing, "Yeah, well, had to have some way to bring the money into live while I was on the streets, didn't I?"

"You're amazing; where did you learn to play like that?" John asked still slightly astounded.

"A homeless man that looked after me taught me. He was a lot older than I was, and he was like a proper father to me." Jezebel looked slightly saddened, "I wish I could have repaid him."

"Maybe we can," Chas sounded like he had a plan.

"What do you mean?" Jezebel asked, turning to face him.

"Well, you could use your awesome guitar skills and pull a concert to raise a bit of money for him? Maybe enough to buy an apartment for him?"

"I'm not that good, Chas. Besides, I never performed in front of a proper crowd before, imagine how nervous I would be. Up there. By myself."

John stepped, "Maybe you won't have to be by yourself."

"Huh?" Both Chas and Jezebel turned to him

"Wait, you're not on about singing with her, are you? You haven't performed in years, since you were like 16, John!" Chas gave a kind of disbelieved laugh.

"It would make me feel a lot more comfortable." Jezebel spoke up with a small smile, which suddenly changed to a smirk, "and I would love to hear you sing, John."

"Well, then it's done. I guess I better get practising." A slight blush made its way to John's cheeks.   

A few weeks of preparation, practice and a bit of pain (due to too much practice), the concert was ready to be held. Chas was the one to help get the news out there, along with JInxy and Angel, who were also excited about seeing their two friends perform. They had also got a few other acts, asking some of the other homeless to perform, having the money half go to them and half to Jezebel's adoptive father, Harry. Jezebel met up with a few of the homeless she knew when she, herself, was living rough and told them to keep it from Harry. She told them to bring him to the area where the concert would be, but not tell him why he was needed there, though this was a hard task to keep, considering all the flyers around town, her friends kept to their part. 

Both John and Jezebel could be nervous; John because of how long it's been since he last performed and Jezebel because she's never performed in front of a proper crowd before. They sat in their make-do-dressing rooms (a 4 bedroomed tent in other words), wondering if they should or not. John got up and walked to Jezebel's. He stood in the tent doorway to her part of the tent to see her pacing.   
  
"So, you ready to go on?" He gave a small smile; she began nodding, but stopped mid-nod.

"No, I no way in Hell ready! I don't think I can do it, John. I...I can't go on!" She continued pacing, so John walked up to her, gently grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into his chest.

"Belle, you want to know a secret?" John asked, the small smile still on his face; he felt Jezebel give a hesitated nod into his chest. His voice cracked slightly from the worry he felt as he spoke, "Well, I'm honestly just as nervous as you are."   
  
"John Constantine, nervous? I don't believe that." Jezebel looked up, looking very skeptical of her best friend.

"You better believe it, love." John had a smirk on his face

"Why are you nervous?"

"Well, it's been over 10 years since I last performed in front of a large crowd, you know."

"Oh,"

"Belle, you shouldn't worry so much; they're gonna love you." He half smiled, which made Jezebel smile slightly, and he gave her a quick tight hug. He held her at arm's length as the announcer called their names, "Well, ready?"   
  


"Not really, but as long as I'm with you up there, I guess I'm okay." They gave each other another quick hug, before heading out to the stage; they could hear the applause as the two of them headed up the steps leading to the stage.   

 


	18. Guitar Solo: Pt 2

Harry had no idea what was going on. He was being taken somewhere by his fellow homeless - the ones that were around just as long as he was - and was pretty confused about it all. It turned out they were taking him to somewhere very crowded and felt an excitement in the air. It wasn't until he saw the barriers and the stage that he didn't know what was going on.

"Guys, you know we're not going to get in. It's a concert and by the looks of things, one you have to pay to get in." Harry tried to resist, only to be pushed forward further.

"Oh, we're not worried about that." One of the older ones stated with a grin.

"You should be. We could get arrested for this!" Harry continued as they pushed him through the barrier.

The crowd parted, and that was only because the announcer (Chas) asked, "Make way for the guest of honour."

Confused beyond belief, Harry got up on to his feet and made his way to the front. The rest following behind him. Chas announced that this was all for him, as well as the homeless, put together by a young lady that felt she needed to give something back to him. Still confused, Harry watched the concert, seeing a lot of his homeless buddies perform, as well as quite a few big bands and singers.

"Now, put your hands together for the young lady that put all of this event together, and her partner." Chas announced all too eagerly; he held his hand out to where John and Jezebel were to come on the stage, "Jezebel Connelly and John Constantine."

The crowd burst into applause as Jezebel and John walked onto the stage; Jezebel held John's hand because of how nervous she was, which could clearly be seen to those who were constant concert goers. A lot of the crowd had heard about John - due to his past band days - from Mucous Membrane and really wanted to see him perform again. Harry was honestly shocked that Jezebel remembered him. After performing, the crowd went wild for both Jezebel and John, including Harry - well as best as he could -.

Jezebel made a quick speech, pulling Harry onto the stage as the previous acts came back on stage - receiving a large applause from the crowd once again -; she went back to holding John's hand, for a comfort, "Harry, this concert was all for you. I honestly wanted to give something back to you, for looking out for me when I was living rough just as you and millions of others are too. That is why half of the money made today will go to you, and the rest to the homeless all around London."

Harry was speechless for a short while, but then spoke with a wide grin, "Jezebel, I am very proud of how much you have grown. You are too kind. But, I don't need this money, looking after you was such a pleasure, and I honestly love looking after those who become homeless, it makes me feel like I have a part in this world. Please, give it to someone in more need than I am."   


	19. Trust Issues

John was busy making a demon trap at his desk, in the lodge, when Jezebel knocked at the door of the room that he was in; John announced, "come in," without turning.

"Hey, John, could...could I ask you a question?" She nervously asked, her head down

John still didn't turn to face her, focusing on his task, "sure,"

"How are you still my friend?" Jezebel rubbed the upper part of her arm, looking away from John, who had suddenly turned with a look of worry.

"What do you mean by that?" John folded his arms, raising an eyebrow, after gently laying what he was doing on the desk.

"Well, any other friend that I've had usually disappears or leaves me around 5 or 6 months of knowing me, so I assume it's just me, but then I got wondering, we've known each other almost 3 years now and that got me thinking, why would someone like you want to know someone as fucked up as me?" Jezebel's brown eyes shimmered, giving the hint she was about to cry; she furrowed her brows, still rubbing the upper part of her arm.

John stood up, and took her face in his hands; he gently placed a palm on either side of her face, "Belle, those people that left you, they... They're just assholes who didn't know any better. They didn't realise how great you are. As for me staying your friend this long, well, that's because we're both as fucked up as the other."

He smirked, knowing Jezebel would know he's joking; she smiled a little and he continued, "Now, being serious, I think you're the most amazing person I have ever met, and you're a lot stronger than I have ever been. Belle, I'll always be your friend. No matter what, and I will look out for you."

"Okay," she squeaked with a smile; she hugged him, shocking John for a little while, and then he returned it. She said into his chest, "Thank you, John."

"No problem, love." He smiled.  

 

 


	20. Aaron

Investigating a curse of a small town, John and Jezebel were taken to a circus that happened to appear when the curse came to be; the circus looked alright from the outside, and it seemed to do what it was meant to: entertain. Jezebel and John weren't there for the entertainment though, they were there on a serious matter. The curse had brought about murders, and the people of that town pointed to the circus. John found this to be a slight bit ridiculous that a circus could be behind the cause of a curse, but Jezebel insisted that they go just to be on the safe side.

John agreed with Jezebel that they should narrow down all the possibilities, though it didn't mean he liked it none-the-less. While John went to talk with the circus owner and have a little look around, Jezebel decided to make herself useful and look behind the scenes, without the circus owner deciding where they should or shouldn't go.

She happened across who was meant to be the star attraction, Bug Boy. He was a 15 year old boy, that had a deformity that left him looking similar to a bug - the see-through wings, fangs, scaly looking skin and a charcoal black skin tone -. He was locked in a cage, chained up. The cage was like a see-through box, mostly a hard plastic. There was a lock on the door, as well as a few bolts. The boy looked like he had a whole lot of bruises and cuts on him.

The poor boy had his head down and looked to be crying. He looked so alone; from where she was stood, Jezebel could see and hear that whenever a member of the circus passed by his cage they said something cruel to him. This made Jezebel enraged, so she goes in search of John, who was looking around for her.

"Belle, this place isn't the cause for that curse, but it sure is a shit hole." John looked around as Jezebel approached him.

"John, you know that boy that's meant to be the star attraction?" Jezebel asked, trying to control her anger; John nodded, "Well, I just saw him; he was in a cage and chained, beaten, and every time one of those carnies passed by him, they said something cruel to him!"

"And what are we supposed to do about it? We're not child services, Belle."

"John, we could at least get him out of this place." Jezebel moved swiftly and stood in front of John, making him stop in his tracks.

John sighed, "Belle, we can't; where will he stay?"

"With us, for the time being!"

"We're not experienced enough for a kid, plus would you really want to bring him into the life we live? It's too dangerous for him."   
  


"And this life isn't?"

"Belle, c'mon..."

Jezebel grabbed hold of John's tie and pulled him, so that he was level with him; she gave narrowed her eyes, "John Constantine, you listen to me: we are going to take that poor boy away from here, and we will care for him. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?"   
  


John quickly nodded, only commenting once Jezebel had let go of his tie; he straightened up his tie, "I don't know how you expect to get around the circus owner though; he's a tough nut to crack. It took me a while to convince him to go around the back, and not the good bits."

She replied with a small smirk, a glint of mischief in her eyes, "Use your charm and dashing good looks, he might fall for ya. Plus, I might have a plan B in mind."

John and the circus owner spent at least an hour having ago at one another; it started out just fine, that was until John mentioned that the boy looked beaten. That was when the circus owner took offense, claiming that the boy was his to do what he wished. The owner denied John's offer to give the boy a good home, because money was more important to the circus owner than the boy's health. While John and the circus owner were shouting insults at one another, Jezebel used her pick-pocketing skills that she had learnt during her time on the streets to snatch the keys to the boy's cage.

She innocently stood by, waiting for John to approach her; he certainly looked pissed off with the guy, "There's certainly no persuadin' that guy to give up his precious money maker, Belle, so what's your plan B?"

Jezebel smiled, swinging the keys in front of his face, "This."

"When did you snatch them?"

"I didn't snatch 'em, I simply borrowed 'em. Just so ya know, we'll have to wait until it gets darker to get him outta here" Jezebel put the keys in the pocket of her trench coat.

"I kinda gathered that." Later that night, when most of the circus staff had gone to their caravans to sleep, John and Jezebel went back for the boy; Jezebel unlocked the cage, startling the boy, so she ended up putting a finger to her lips, to signal him to keep quiet.

Putting her trench coat around the boy's shoulder, Jezebel sweetly smiled, before unlocking his chains, "Hey, sweetie, fancy a home that actually cares for you?"

The boy looked sceptical because all he'd known was the circus people all his life and they were cruel to him and used him, "Why would you want me?"

She returned with, "Let's just say, I know what you're going through."

"A pretty lady like you?"

"Trust me, I'm not so pretty up here, honey." Jezebel pointed to her head

"What does your boyfriend - there - think of this?"

"John, oh, he's my partner. Not my boyfriend. And he agrees with me, don't ya, John?" She shot him a glare, making the boy slightly giggle.

"Yeah, okay, just hurry up, Belle!" John replied as he looked around for anyone coming.

"Belle? That's a pretty name." Aaron smiled, "My... My name's Aaron."

"Well, Aaron thank you, but my actual name is Jezebel. But, John is right, we must hurry!" She whispered leading the boy out of the cage and out of the circus. The custody battle took at least a few months, but Jezebel finally claimed the rights; she would have let him go to another home, one she knew would care for the boy, but because he didn't want to leave her side, she decided to take on the responsibility of his older sister (she didn't feel comfortable being 'his mother' in a sense) and giving him a caring home.  

 


	21. Richard's Return

Jezebel was passing by the front door of the lodge, when there came a knock. She went to answer only to have the shock of her life. It was her older brother Richard; he hadn't been in contact with her since... Since before the murder of her parents and little brother, when he left without so much as a goodbye.

"Belle, that might be for me...." John walked into the room; he paused behind Jezebel, looking ready to punch Richard, "this the older brother that left ya, belle? Let me at 'im!"

Jezebel put both hands on John's chest and tried pushing him back, as she stared in disbelief at the sight in front of her, "Wait, John. Richy, is that really you?"

"It's me, Jezzy." He looked like a mess, like he was doing drugs again. Like he'd been drinking all night. John eventually got passed Jezebel and, even though Richard was a couple inches taller, managed to punch Richard, his fist colliding with Richard's chin. He sure as hell was going to have a big bruise there in the morning. Jezebel pulled John aside before it could get any worse.

There was an awkward silence before Jezebel blurted out; now she was the one that wanted to punch her brother, but being a good person, John held her back, "Why? Why did you leave me? I was so alone! I had no one! I was alone... So alone."

She was now crumpled up into a ball, crying with John trying to calm her and wipe away her tears; Richard approached her, reaching out a hand only for John to smack it away, "Jezzy, please forgive me?"

"Don't call me that anymore," Jezebel buried her face in John's chest further.

"Why the fuck should she forgive a scumbag like you? You're probably only here because you need money from her, just so you can get yer drugs and shit. Then you'll leave her again!" John wrapped his arms around Jezebel's head to cover her ears, she didn't need to hear him say what he had to say, "You don't deserve to have her as a sister! She's too good for you!"

"I honestly was going to ask her just for money, I had heard she lived round here, so I thought to pay her a visit." Richard began; John really looked like he was going to punch him again, "But, I really do want your forgiveness, jez...Jezebel. I have no family, no friends. I need you. I know I wasn't there when you needed me, especially when.... Mum, dad and Max passed away, but I felt you didn't need me. I'm here now. Apologising. Wanting to make amends, if you would like?"

John was about to say something, but Jezebel held him back; she wiped her tears and taking a deep breath before speaking, "Richy, while I do partly hate you for leaving, especially without so much as a goodbye, I also missed you. Life in that Asylum was like living in hell, as was living with aunt Aggie. I really did need you, and though it may take time, a long time, I am willing to give you one more chance."

John didn't look too happy, but Richard was ecstatic, "thank you, Jezzy, thank you! I'll make it up to in every way I can!"

"Also, it may take time for me to warm up to you calling me Jezzy again."


	22. Arabella

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The phone number in this chapter is the number used in the to series; fun fact: if it is called an actual message from John plays :3. Also Arabella is my Gravity Falls OC, which will be featured a few times throughout this story. ^^

A few days ago, Jezebel tried to take on a pack of demons that had invaded a castle-turned-hotel; the hotel in question was the Grand Alvis Hotel. During trying to rid of these, she got an injury to the lower arm. Despite the injury, she seemed to manage to rid of them, getting a big thank you from the hotel manager. Not even a week later, Jezebel got another call from the same hotel saying that one of the demons were back. Due to John being out of town and the injury that had occurred during the last exorcism, Jezebel didn't think she would be able to perform the exorcism by herself. The only solution that she could think of was to put an urgent advertisement in the papers for an assistant and hope to the Gods that someone would answer.

Meanwhile in Gravity Falls, Oregon, a 18 year old girl by the name of Arabella Smith - or Ari to her two best friends Mabel and Dipper - was coincidentally in search of a job to earn a bit of money to help pay for her university funds. She was on her way home from collecting Grunkle Stan's paper - which was one of the conditions to her staying with the Pines family -, when she saw an advertisement on the back that immediately caught her eye.

\-----------------------URGENT: WANTED--------------------------

Those interested in the supernatural, that are brave enough to

face the unknown, and are good at making hot chocolates.

This job includes hunting down monsters unknown to the imagination,

pulling demons out of people, and many other things normal people

wouldn't want to do.

If interested call:   (404) 248-7182 (ask for Jezebel Connelly); job is set in

Atlanta, but does require a lot of travelling,

Warning: this job is not for the faint hearted.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arabella saw this, and thought it was the job for her. She had doubts for some reason in the back of her mind, so thought to ask Mabel and Dipper on the subject. Upon arriving back at the Mystery Shack, she ran up stairs to Dipper's bedroom (due to them being a lot older now, the Pines Twins had separate bedrooms) with the paper, causing Grunkle Stan to shout, "Hey, where's my paper?!" after her.

"Guys, you have got to see this!" Arabella wove the paper around; Dipper was on his bed reading his journal for the 100th time, while Mabel played with Waddles.

"What is it?" Mabel asked excitedly as she scrambled up, wanting to see what the fuss was about.

"It's a job ad, and you won't believe what it is advertising either." She handed Dipper the paper, so the twins could read it; once they looked finished reading, Arabella asked, "Well, do you think I should take the job?"

"Well, Ari, you have been looking for one for a while now and this does sound right up your alley, so I say go for it." Dipper smiled as Arabella sat on the bed next to him.

"Yeah, Ari, this is so your thing!" Mabel flopped down on the double bed, dangling her head over the edge; Waddles (Mabel's pet pig) toddled toward his owner, booping her nose with his, causing Mabel to giggle. She gasped before saying, "You should so give them a call now!"

"What, Mabel, don't you think it's a bit late?" Arabella asked; a small smile crept to her face at how great Mabel and Waddles got on.

"Well, the ad did say it was urgent." Mabel grinned; she picked Waddles up and held him on her lap, having a cuddle, "So, what are you waiting for? Call them!"

"Okay, I'll call them to see if it's taken, but if it is, that's it for tonight." Arabella agreed; she looked between the newspaper and her phone as she dialled in the number in the advertisement. She waited for an answer, which took about 5 rings, before someone picked up.

"Hello," A female voice answered.

"Hi, is Jezebel Connelly there?" Arabella asked

"Speaking,"

"I saw your ad in the paper, and wondered if the job was taken?"

There was a frustrated sigh on the other end, before Jezebel replied with, "No, it's not taken."

"Can I apply for it?"

A bit of rustling could be heard from the other end, before a shocked sounding Jezebel responded with, "Sure, you need to answer a few questions first."

"Okay, that would be perfectly fine." Arabella smiled.

"Well, okay then. First of all, an obvious one, what's your full name?"

"Arabella Smith,"

"Okay, Arabella, how old are you?"

"I'm 18." 

"Have you had any experience with the supernatural before?"

"Plenty; the place where I live is full of supernatural wonders."

"Great, you'll need plenty of that in this job." Jezebel paused for a second, "Do you have any past experiences in other jobs?"

"I've worked at the Mystery Shack in Gravity Falls; I managed to get a couple of small jobs as paper girl, and working at the local bakery. I also used to work as a sort of intern for my friends' uncle, who worked on finding the weird and great in Gravity Falls."

"Okay, how do you plan on getting to Atlanta?"

"Well, Gravity Falls is only a bus ride, so I would most likely either use the bus or get a lift from the gentleman that I live with."

"Okay, thank you; that is all the questions that I have to ask. Are there any questions that you would like to ask me?"

"Well, there is a couple on my mind. How long would it take for you to get back with an answer?" 

"Well, most likely a day or two, if I decide you are the one for the job, I will call back with the location that  I would like you to meet me at, with a time."

"Okay, thank you, and another question I have is: what kind of experience do you have yourself?"   
  


"Well, I've have well over 15 years of experience with the supernatural; I deal with it nearly every day. I often help my partner, who is away at this current moment, with the exorcisms he performs."

"I have two more questions: What kind of creatures and monsters have you encountered? And why do you want an assistant/ intern?"

"Well, I've encountered many different types of demons, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, angels, fallen angels; you know the usual. As well as some odd ones: hellhound, krampus, shapeshifters, skinwalkers." Jezebel replied, "As for why I wanted an assistant, I recently got injured on a job, and recently got a call to do one that requires both hands. As I stated before, my partner is out of town at this moment, so he can not help me either."

"Okay, thank you; umm, that was all the questions that I had."

"Okay then, I shall call you back in a couple of days to tell you whether or not you have the job." 

"Okay, thank you." Arabella said just before Jezebel hung the phone up, leaving a buzzing noise in Arabella's ear.

The Pines Twins sat there on the edge of the bed, eagerly waiting for her reply, "Well?"

"She said she'd call back in a couple of days."

"How do you think it went, Ari?" Dipper asked.

"I think it went pretty well, to be honest, though she did sound frustrated at times, but I reckon that's to do with her ad, and people calling her just for the fun of it."

"Yeah, that does sound like something some people would do." Mabel nodded in agreement.

The next day, Jezebel called Arabella back, stating that she was the most promising candidate and that she had the job, if she still wanted it. Arabella accepted the job role; she was given the place to meet: the Alvis Hotel, at around 05:00PM, tomorrow. Over that evening and the morning of the next day, Arabella spent it preparing herself to look presentable and packing items she may need for the evening. She decided that the best clothing she could wear would be her own: a dress top, leggings, boots and a scarf. She also put her hair up in a ponytail, to stop her hair getting in the way.

Once she was ready, she grabbed her backpack before skipping down the stairs, jumping the last few steps. She wore a bright smile on her face, which was the first thing Dipper noticed when she walked into the room.

"Someone's very happy." Dipper smiled before taking a mouthful of his cereal, "Are you ready?"

"Am I ever! I'm nervouscited!" Arabella threw her hands in the air in excitement; she flopped down to the table to eat her breakfast.

"Ah, I'm sure you'll be fine." Mabel stepped in, as she too joined them at the table; once finishing up her breakfast, Dipper walked Arabella to the bus stop.

"Well, I guess I'll see you when you finish..." Dipper rubbed the back of his neck, giving her an awkward smile; she smiled back at him, before giving him a hug.

"Mind staying with me until the bus comes?"

"No problem," Dipper agreed hugging Arabella back; the bus arrived, and before Arabella could get on it, Dipper kissed her on the cheek, before saying, "Good luck on your new job, Ari."

Blushing, Arabella smiled before saying, "Thank you, Dipper,"

She waved to him as she climbed on the bus; she paid for her ticket and took her seat. As the bus drove away, she waved to Dipper from her window seat. He waved back as he watched her drive away. The bus arrived at her stop and as she made her way off the bus, her phone began to ring. She looked to the caller ID to see it was Dipper's phone calling.

She answered, "Hello, Dipper?"

"Hey Ari!" It was Mabel, "We wanted to wish you luck!"

"Hey, Mabel; what do you mean by 'we'?"

"Me, Dipper, Stan and even Ford!" Mabel answered gleefully.

Before Arabella could say anything more, the 4 of them answered in a harmonious tone, "Good luck, Ari!"

Arabella giggled before replying with, "Thank you, guys. I'm just about to meet my new boss... I hope she likes me."

"She will, again good luck, Ari.." Dipper awkwardly said down the phone; Arabella smiled as she knew he was too.

"Dipper," She giggled, "That's the third time you've told me that."

"Oh...Sorry," Dipper chuckled, "Well, I hope everything goes well today,"

"I'll see ya later, Dipdop," She smiled, before hanging up; she made her way to the castle-hotel, using the map app on her phone to guide her.

Upon arriving at the Alvis hotel, Arabella saw how amazing it looked: a tall structure that felt rather intimidating, the building looking over a hundred years old, and the decor of the castle looking suitable for the hotel. The view was breathtaking, as the castle-hotel was set at the top of a hill. Arabella began exploring the hotel, finding some interesting artifacts set on display. Looking around, Arabella couldn't see anyone, not even the hotel staff, so she gathered that her new boss would be inside already. She wandered into the castle to think it was abandoned, that was until she heard fast paced footsteps coming from down one of the corridors. She could see a young woman running in her direction; she was brown haired, and quite slim-looking.

As she was about to pass Arabella, she grabbed Arabella's arm and pulled her along with her, "Run for your life!" 

Arabella took a glimpse behind her to see an angered inside-out demon; her eyes widened in horror, looking back in front of her, running beside whom she guessed was her new boss. Her boss grinned as she ran, "I love my job!"

She laughed as she declared this; Arabella answered back with, "Easy for you to say!"

"Come on, don't tell me you don't enjoy this?!" Jezebel asked Arabella, who looked at her with a look of confusion.

"I thought we were supposed to be hunting him?!" Arabella asked, as they continued on running.

"Oh, don't worry we are, I have something planned up ahead!" Jezebel shouted to her; suddenly the whole corridor went pitch black.

Jezebel stood still, hearing a struggle behind her. The lights came back on and she saw her new intern being held captive in the arms of the demon she was hunting. He spoke in tongue to everyone else, but Jezebel and Arabella could understand him perfectly, "Leave me be, or the girl gets her throat slit, exorcist!"

It was about now that made Jezebel wish John was here; since he would know how to get Arabella out of their current situation. But, she also knew he could possibly make the situation worse at times. She was about to bargain with the demon, so they would both get what they want, when Arabella spoke up, putting on a panic-stricken tone, "Okay, okay; she'll agree to your terms, just please let me go. She'll give you anything you want."

"Very well," The demon was about to let go of Arabella, who quickly whipped out the demon trap amulet that was in her coat pocket; she pressed the amulet to the demon's arm, giving him a burning sensation, causing to fully let go of Arabella.

Jezebel gave a small smile, impressed by Arabella for her quick thinking. The demon back up tripping over the long carpet in the corridor; this revealed a demon symbol painted on the corridor. Jezebel got out her lighter, flicking it on to the symbol and lighting it, trapping the demon. Together the girls, performing the spell and sending the demon back to Hell. They cleaned up, once he was gone. Jezebel making a quick phone call to the manager that the problem was sorted once and for all. After finishing on the phone, Jezebel walked up to Arabella, who was slightly nervous to see what her new boss thought of her on the job.

"You know, kid, you're a quick thinker and you recited all the words to that spell correctly. I reckon with a bit of training, you could be really good at this." Jezebel smiled; the two of them made their way out of the castle-hotel.

"Does that mean I get to keep the job?" Arabella asked excitedly as she easily kept up with Jezebel's fast paced walking.

"Yeah, it does." Jezebel smiled; she walked Arabella to the bus stop, and they talked up until the bus arrived.

On her bus journey back to the Mystery Shack, Arabella's grin grew and her excitement to tell her friends increased. When she got back, she was greeted by the Pines twins, much like a dog would greet its owner after a long day of being separated. They excitedly asked how it went; they walked into the kitchen area, where Stan was sat at the table reading his evening newspaper. She gathered Ford was down in the basement doing who knows what.

"Well?" Stan asked; Arabella sat down, with the twins shuffling on to the chairs next to her, eagerly waiting for her to reply.

"I thought it went rather well." Arabella beamed, "I mean, she did offer a more permanent position, along with proper training, so I take that as it went well."

"Ari, that's amazing!" Dipper and Mabel shouted; through all the excitement, Dipper picked Arabella up, spun her around, and then hugged her tightly.


	23. Photo Album

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on a comic I did a while ago, though is mostly inspired by the Good Intentions issues of Hellblazer (issues 151 - 156)

Early one morning, Jezebel was the first of her and John to wake up; Chas was away visiting his daughter. She began to make a cup of tea for herself, when she spotted a photo album on the coffee table in the middle of the living area.

Jezebel smiled as she picked up the album, "Ooo, photo album!"

Jezebel flopped herself onto the couch, and began to flip through it. Upon finding a picture of a young John, who was wearing a leather jacket, in his Mucus Membrane days, she smirked, "Not bad looking when he was younger."

Later, she came to a picture of a drunk and drugged John, looking rather roughed up and like he was trying to strip for whoever held the camera; she laughed, "Pfft..."

John stepped behind her, raising an eyebrow, "And wha's so funny?

Jezebel slammed the book shut, and tried to look as innocent as she could, "John! Oh nothing." . 

"Uh-huh. Let's see." John looked rather skeptical, as he took the book off her; a blush crept its way to his face as he saw the front cover of the album, "Wait, ya were lookin' at my old photo album?"

Jezebel flipped the book to - what she thought was - the funny image of John; she pointed to the picture, "Well, yeah, and there's some hilarious ones too; like this one."

John sounded quite defensive, "Hey, I was drunk and drugged."

"It's still funny..." Jezebel flipped backward to the younger John pictures, "But, I like these ones more..."

John sounded very shocked, "Holy shit! These are from my teen days..."

"And, if I may say, that look suited ya. Not bad looking either." Jezebel nudged John with her elbow; John blushing.   


	24. Rivalry With Jason

"You did fucking what?!" John's voice could be heard echoing throughout the lodge; he looked like he was ready to launch a punch at Jason, Jezebel's boyfriend.

"I didn't mean to, I forgot we were undercover for a second!" Jason's voice rang in return; he too looking like he would throw a punch, from having the full blame set on him.

It was happening again. John and Jason were arguing again. Frankly, Jezebel was getting really frustrated with them arguing all the time. It was either that, Jason making John jealous or John and Jason pulling really cruel pranks on one another. It had been 6 months since the party where they first met, and it was actually getting harder for Jezebel each time they did; she actually thought Jason and John argued more than an old married couple, which worried her slightly: if her boyfriend couldn't get on with her best friend, what would she do? Don't get her wrong, Jezebel was treated fairly well by Jason, but he mainly used her as eye candy at most.

Jezebel thought about how the argument started: the undercover mission. She was asked to investigate an abandoned warehouse, where strange activity was coming from. From later research, she found that a cult of aggressive vampire like creatures were nesting in there. She thought she should get to know them a bit better, such as knowing what they were doing there in the first place, and to do this would be very dangerous indeed. Due to him being a vampire, meaning he was very similar to these creatures, Jezebel thought Jason would be a good ally to them. He would go with her, undercover.

She went undercover as Jason's vampire other half, to fit the part more. A vampire queen of sorts. She knew the creatures would of heard of her name through with her being a monster hunter, so she used a fake name: Cora Marsh (using Jason's last name). Upon approaching the hideout of these creatures, they were sniffed out and a pair of guards were on them in mere seconds.

"What do you want?" The larger of the guards spoke, pointing a spear at them.

Jason spoke; his irish accent kicking in, "We are here to see if these stories of a cult of aggressive vampire-like creatures were true. You see, my queen, Cora, and I are of vampire kind, and would like to know how you compare to us. To learn from your kind, in a sense."

"We must speak with our lord first, before you are allowed to enter." The smaller guard spoke, before heading into the warehouse; he re-appeared not long after, "The lord would like to speak to you."

When they entered the warehouse, Jason and Jezebel could see that it was done up to look more like a home or rather castle. At the far end of the warehouse, they saw a large group crowded around a throne that looked more like a pedestal. As they walked closer to the throne-pedestal, the crowd stared in a blank gaze at Jason and Jezebel. Upon approaching the throne, they saw that the lord of the cult was a very well dressed man, with a pale complexion. His hair was slicked back and looked unrealistically perfect. Not a single wrinkle was present on his suit. His suit looked like it was made for somewhere cold.

"Tell me what you told my guards." The cult leader spoke with a strong Russian accent; he gave a displeased look, though Jezebel kind of thought that that was his usual emotion, even at the best of times.

"My king and I would like to learn from you. We had heard stories throughout the lands that you were a fearless and powerful culture. We would like to see if those stories and correct." Jezebel put on a strong accent to match Jason's origins.

The cult leader looked rather flattered by the request from Jezebel, "Very well, we will teach you of our culture, if we may learn from you."

As the cult leader was replying the request, his followers found the new visitors peak their curiosity. Due to this, they began to get closer to Jason and Jezebel. Jezebel's focus kept on the leader, while Jason began to feel uneasy over the situation of the followers. He huddled a bit closer to Jezebel, who gave a quick annoyed look. He still tried to keep a brave face about the situation. Jason eventually pulled Jezebel aside.

"Jezebel, can we please get out of here? They're getting too close for comfort?" Jason gently held her shoulders; he lowered his voice, so that the cult didn't hear him.

"She is the monster hunter, Jezebel Connelly?" The cult leader hissed causing both Jason and Jezebel to give a look of horror; they apparently had good hearing, because he and Jezebel were quite a distance away from him. He ordered his followers, "Kill them!"

Jason and Jezebel had already ran out of the warehouse, making their way to the lodge, though having to fight off a couple of the followers. Since they had to do to make their escape a whole lot easier, the two of them ended up with bruises and a few cuts, Jezebel getting the most damage of it. On the journey back, the two of them had a lot of the cult chasing them, and very close to them too. They ended up tripping over each other a couple of times, again gaining a few cuts and bruises. The lodge was the closest (and safest) place that Jezebel could think of, so that was the place they ended up going to.

John was sat on the couch, having a drink to himself, when the two of them burst through the door, panting; he could clearly see that bruises and cuts, and instantly stood up.

"What happened?"

"This is not your business!" Jason hissed, stepping in between John and Jezebel.

"For one, you are in my house, and two, Jezebel is my best friend, so yes, this is my business." John got up in Jason's face; being slightly taller than the vampire has its advantages, "Now, piss off vampire. Jezebel, tell me what happened?"

"Well, you know that case of the cult of vampire-like creatures I was working on?" John nodded for her to continue, "Well, I went undercover with Jason. We were doing fine, until the followers began getting closer, and I think... Jason panicked. He pulled me aside and they must of heard him say my real name."

"You did fucking what?!" John's voice could be heard echoing throughout the lodge; he looked like he was ready to launch a punch at Jason, Jezebel's boyfriend. Chas entered the room, holding back John, while Jezebel held back Jason.

"I didn't mean to, I forgot we were undercover for a second!" Jason's voice rang in return; he too looking like he would throw a punch, from having the full blame set on him.

"Likely story, mate! You panicked! Some vampire you are!"   
  


"Like you would do better, exorcist!" This argument must have gone on for hours, because by the time they were finished, light began coming through the windows; this made Jezebel think back through the last few months.

She thought of how the both of them would play cruel and horrible pranks on one another (most of the time John coming out on top); the pranks would most likely be funny to others, but give the person it was being played on quite a fright. One of John's best ones was when he planted a piece of garlic on Jason's bedside table. He would stand there as Jason reacted to the prank: he wouldn't sleep in his bed for the rest of the week, and he screamed like a girl - according to John-. Jason often came across as brave and fearless to others, but was actually quite soft in that sense. This was something John used to his advantage.

She also thought of how Jason used to use his bat form and hang from the doorway to John's room. He would do this, when John was half asleep and most likely not realise he was there - meaning it was mainly in the morning. This was one of his favourite pranks due to the reaction John would give for the first few times he did the prank, but John eventually got used to it, and even in mid-yawn, would punch Jason.

There were also times Jason would often try - and succeed - to make John jealous; he would do this by kissing, hugging or generally being around Jezebel in front of him. One time, he did this during her reading her book - she did not like to be disturbed while she read -, and it did not take long for John and Jason to start arguing. Before they could get physical, Jezebel stepped in - due to them interrupting her reading -, "Will you two shut the fuck up, before I beat the crap outta you both with this book!" This would obviously scare the both of them, due to what Chas took to calling Jezebel's wrath face being evident.

She reflected on how Jason reacted to her demon side, Jez; he was a scaredy cat about it at first, but then he turned in a jerk about it. She also reflected on how John reacted to Jez: he comforted her, after helping her deal with Jez.

His lies. The fact that even Jinxy and Angel didn't like him much. The way he was often get asked about his chest tattoo and would not object to showing it off to anyone, even to other girls. How he would jealous over her just talking with John, who would also in turn be jealous of Jason being with Jezebel. This all came into her realisation, when she thought about it, that Jason was not very good boyfriend material, well to her he wasn't. She had enough.

"Jason, I... I don't think I want to be with you anymore." Jezebel quietly cried; Jason and John had to stop what they were doing to actually hear her.

"What did you say, Belle?" John asked; both him and Jason looked at Jezebel.

"Jason, I don't want to be with you... I'm...I'm tired of all this! I'm tired of the arguing. Of the lies. The way you show off your tattoo to others without so much as a slight bit of hesitation! The way you both make each other jealous. The way you play pranks on each other. I'm tired of it, and I'd much rather lose a boyfriend, who would most likely not see after all of this, than a friend I am very close to. One who looks out for me a lot more than you do." Jezebel had tears streaming down her cheeks, and looked like she was struggling to stand on her own, so John went up to her and rubbed her shoulders in an attempt to help calm her down; she gently stopped him, and began shoving Jason out the door, after a short while of him not reacting, "Go, Jason. Please, just go."

Once the door was shut, Jezebel made her way to the couch. She instantly broke down, fully letting out how she felt, due to easily getting attached to others. John made his own way over to the couch, when he saw her break down. He sat on the other end, before pulling Jezebel in for a hug. She curled up in a ball as he did.

The guilt grew inside him; he told her, once Chas had left the room, "Jezebel, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for it to go that far. I... I feel like this is mostly my fault."

She wiped her eyes, before she spoke, "Please, John, he was an ass and it was him who would start it a lot of the time."

John tried getting her mind off everything that happened that night, and it actually worked. Even months after the break up, Jason would be in denial and stalk Jezebel. John would often cause fights with him, mostly in order to protect Jezebel, when he would show his face at her door or at the lodge.  


	25. Panic Attacks = Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning of panic attacks and self harm

Jezebel was sat on the couch with John, just chilling, when she suddenly got up and went off; images of her past where starting to flood her mind, the negative parts of her life. Parts where people left her. Where they abused her. Mostly of her aunt and high school bullies. She felt a shortness of breath, like something or someone was holding down on her chest. After a short while, John got up and followed after her.

"Belle, yer in 'ere?" John walked into Jezebel's room; he saw Jezebel banging her head against the wall in the corner, while crying. He ran up to her, to stop her, "Belle?!"

Jezebel continued to bang her head against the wall, and she did not notice John next to her, "Grauntie Aggie was right... I am a disappointment! A big one!"

"Belle!" John shouted; Jezebel kept banging her head against the wall, "C'mon, Belle, stop this!" 

John gave a worried look before putting his hands gently on her shoulders, from behind; Jezebel still banged head and didn't notice John.

John continued to give a worried look, "Jezebel, please!"

Jezebel still banged her head, without noticing John, "... I am a fuck up and it was all my fault!"

John turned Jezebel to face him, shocking her out, and held her at arm's length; Jezebel gave a shocked tone, "John?!"  
John pulled Jezebel into a hug; she cried into his chest, "Ssh, Belle, I'm here; you're safe now. Don't worry."

"Belle, look at me: I won't let that nasty, old bitch touch you or come near ya again. Ya understand, Belle?" After a short while, he held Jezebel at arm's length again, so she could see how serious he was, to which Jezebel nodded, "Good; now, c'mere."

John pulled her back into a hug. The way she and John were now; how close she and John were, made Jezebel think back to the first couple of weeks during her stay with him, until she got back on her feet and found her own apartment. How they would argue a lot, how she didn't trust him with very much information about herself. Because of how much John and Jezebel clashed, Jezebel nearly walked away, but thanks to a quick pep talk to John from Chas, John - calmly- talked to Jezebel with more softness to his voice about why it would be safer and smarter for her to stay.

Also during the first couple of weeks with John, she took her time in trusting both John and Chas. The time he earned her trust was when he actually conned a demon into thinking he was his sacrifice. He held a gun to her chin, and it did give her a bit of a shock at first, but she saw in his eyes that he couldn't actually do it.


	26. Panic Attacks: pt 2= Demons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Panic attacks and self harm is mentioned in this chapter

Jezebel was sat in her room in the lodge, doing a bit of research; her room was usually a place where she could focus. Usually. She had to stop every now and then due to the voices in her head. The ones caused by Jez for most part. They wouldn't shut up. They either went on how the murder of her family was her fault, or tried to coax her into doing bad deeds (mostly to herself, but there were times they would tell her to harm others). This was the main reason she would lock herself in her room, away from others.

The voices got so bad, that she could not concentrate at all. She packed up her research notes and sat on the edge of her bed. Due to it getting too much for her, she eventually sat on the floor, leaning against her bed. She sat there, holding her head with her hands. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as the demons in her mind would continue to speak to her.

"Come on, Belle; we know you want us to come out and play!" One of them would say, "just let us and we can play with your friends as well."

"Shut up!" Jezebel would grit her teeth as she spoke, "shut up! Just shut up!"

"Your friends don't need you. They were perfectly fine before they met you. You just get in their way all the time." Another spoke, sounding a lot more deeper than the first.

"The murder was your fault, you know. Everyone knows it. It's because of this that they'll all leave you. All abandon you. Your mother would have sat up in her grave if she knew of the thoughts you had back then. We can't believe you had a thought to kill your own parents." A third spoke up; this one sounding much like her abusive aunt, "But, your baby brother as well? Shame on you."

"No. I... I didn't... I couldn't..." Jezebel cried through sobs; the voices went on like this even after John walked through the door.

Not even a couple of minutes later and John strolled into the room; he was looking at some of the notes he had an old friend look up over the week. He also had a cigarette hanging out the corner of his mouth.

"Hey, Belle, have you looked at these notes that..." He stopped in the doorway, when he saw where Jezebel was; he took out the cigarette from his mouth and snubbed it out on the doorframe, before going over to where she was. He put his notes on her bed, kneeling down to her level, only for her to flinch slightly at his touch, "Belle, are you alright?"

She didn't hold back since John already knew of these voices and demons; hell, he even had his own of sorts, "John, they won't shut up!"

This simple sentence was all she needed to say; John knelt a bit closer to Jezebel, so he could comfort her a bit better. He tried his best to calm her down, only the voices in her head wouldn't go away, not like they usually did for a short while. He tried all the techniques he usually did; when that didn't work, he sat back a small distance to give Jezebel a bit of space, still kneeling by her.

Jezebel held her hands to her head, while sat with one knee outstretched and the other raised, "John, I just want these voices to go away. I don't want the demons in my head anymore."

"Belle, look at me. Look at me, Belle. I will drive your demons away eventually, and you do deserve to be happy; I will make sure of that fact." John had one hand rested on her raised knee, while the other hand was on her shoulder; he spoke with a gentle, soft voice. He tilted her head up with his right hand, "But, for the mean time, I need you to be strong. If not for me, for yourself."

Jezebel looked into his eyes and nodded, making him give her a small smile, before pulling her in for a hug, "Good."

Jezebel looked directly into his eyes, "You won't leave me, will you, John?"

John looking back into her eyes, so she knew he was telling the truth, "Of course not, love."


	27. John Meets Arabella

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: a fair bit of gore and swearing in this part ^^ Also I love how this one came out :D (mostly cause I hardly write gore stuff)

It had been a month since Jezebel had first hired Arabella Smith to be her assistant - though she preferred to refer to Arabella as her intern since she stated she doesn't need an assistant -, and it was around the time John was arriving back in Atlanta from a job he had been on in Gotham. They were sat in the lodge, Jezebel helping her with learning a few tricks of the trade, sat in the middle of the living area. She told Arabella that she realized she didn't have much vodka in, and John would be back soon. Arabella had heard lots of John Constantine, both through Dipper and Jezebel. Dipper was a huge fan of John - with him being apart of the supernatural department - and, when he heard Jezebel was living with him, he fangirled like crazy (it took Arabella and Mabel almost 2 hours to calm him down).

Jezebel told Arabella that she would be back in 10 minutes time, as she had to nip to the shop to get John his alcohol. She waved to Arabella as she went on her way, and Arabella just carried on with learning her new tricks. It didn't take her long to perfect them, since she was indeed a fast learner, so she decided to explore around the lodge for a bit. She found many exciting things, and noted them down in her 'journal of supernatural and weird things'; she sketched what they looked like and made a few notes about them - for example if they gave off a feeling or made her feel a certain way in its presence.

It was about 5 minutes later, when John burst through the door, wind and rain blowing in after him. Followed behind him was also Chas and Zed. Zed was the last one in, but John closed the door due to the high winds. When he turned, he saw Chas and Zed staring over at the bookcases where he stored his artefacts and such.

"What are you two staring at?" John asked as he looked himself, after throwing down his bag; he turned to see a girl around the age of 18 staring back at them.

She held on to Dr Fate's helmet in one of her hands and a journal in the other; John looked to his friends and then back to the girl, all the while giving a confused look, before asking, "Who are you and why are you touching my stuff?"

"Sorry, I got curious; you see, I'm very interested in the supernatural. I'm Ari Smith." Arabella put down the helmet, before sticking out her hand for John to shake.

"Right, okay. Would you like to explain to me why you are in this house?" John folded his arms; Arabella slowly put her hand down, assuming he wasn't going to shake it.

"Oh, Jezebel hired me almost a month ago, I'm her intern. She was helping me learn a few tricks." Arabella smiled, looking extremely nervous, with her hands behind her back, "You must be John."

"Yeah, I'm John." He raised an eyebrow, stepping slightly closer to the girl, "would you like to tell me where Jezebel went?"

"She went to the shops about 5-10 minutes ago." Arabella replied, "She should be back anytime now."

Just as Arabella finished her sentence, the door opened causing the wind and rain to blow through the area once again. Jezebel had come through the door, a plastic bag in one hand and trying to close the door with the other. Chas had to eventually close it for her. She froze by the door when she realised that everyone were staring at Arabella. She took the attention off the girl, knowing it made her uncomfortable, showing one of the bottles of vodka in the bag she carried, "how about some drinks, everyone?"

John took hold of Jezebel's arm and dragged her to the kitchen area; she placed the bottles on the counter, before she got a mouthful from John, "When were you going to tell me you got an assistant?"

"Intern, John. I don't need an assistant. I happened to hurt my arm while on a case, and I didn't want to disturb the three of you, while you were on your case, so I thought a little help wouldn't hurt." Jezebel got out 5 shot glasses - knowing Arabella was old enough to drink and think for herself -, and began pouring the vodka into each.

While those two were having a domestic of sorts, Arabella stood awkwardly with Chas and Zed. She looked into the kitchen to see John and Jezebel arguing, and thought they looked like a couple, so asked, "are those two together?"

Zed shook her head as she walked over to Arabella to see what she was looking at; upon seeing John and Jezebel, she answered, "We all wish they would already, but unfortunately not, sweetie."   
  


Back in the kitchen area, Jezebel was looking for a snack she could have with her drink, more specifically chocolate. She stood on her tiptoes, trying to reach for one of the high cupboards. Seeing her not being able to reach, John got what she wanted down. He kept hold of the bar of chocolate that Jezebel was after.

"Belle, I reckon we should test her in the field. See if she can handle the dangers and the stress from it all." John folded his arms, the bar still in his right hand.

"Really, John? She was already tested in the field with me, and she proved herself to be really skilled." Jezebel frowned, switching her eye contact between eyeing her chocolate and glaring at John.

"I would like to see for myself. I mean what if something was to happen to you, and someone else needed to, I don't know, get rid of the demon; I won't be there to help all the time, and what if she didn't know how to get rid of a specific one?"

"She does. She knew the ones I've tested her on, and proved to know a hard one while in the field with me."   
  


"I still want to see what she's like in the field for myself, just to be sure."

Jezebel knew he wasn't going to back down from this idea, she sighed before asking, "Okay, but can I have my chocolate now?"

He smirked before handing her what she wanted; she happily took it. She put it in her coat pocket, to make carrying the drinks a lot easier. She carried two, while John carried the rest through to the living area. Upon carrying the drinks into the area, they could see Chas and Zed happily chatting away with Arabella.

"See, and she gets on so well with everyone." Jezebel whispered with a smirk to John, who just raised his eyebrows; she called, "Who wants drinks?"

All three hands went up, with large grins; John gave them the three drinks he held, and Jezebel handed him one of the two that she held onto. The five of them shared a laugh and a couple of rounds of drinks, for tomorrow would be test day for Arabella, which she was made aware of due to the map (John showed her, while they had their drinks).

"Arabella, you see the dried dots on this map?" John asked, before taking a swig of his drink; Arabella nodded as she took a couple of sips of her own drink, "These are places where strange occurrences have taken place, and if one was wet, that means that strange occurrence is happening now."

"You mean like that one there, over in Pennsylvania?" Arabella pointed to the map; John's head turned in the direction that Arabella pointed, to the wet spot on the map.

"Yes... like that one there..." John hastened over to the side the wet dot was on to get a better view of exactly where it was, "Good eye."

Jezebel wandered over, placing a hand on Arabella's shoulder, with a smirk on her face, "Take that as a compliment, Ari, and take it well; he doesn't normally give them out."

Looking highly offended by that comment, John gave a quick glare to Jezebel, "I'm going to ignore that last comment..."

John continued looking at the map; looking closer he could pick out that the place of interest was a high school. To be more specific, a high school in Greensburg called Palem High School. Arabella searched on the school on her mobile, and came across that the school was just an ordinary plain school. Arabella practiced spells and incantations. She also studied like she never had before, during that night and even well into the morning.

The next day, she eagerly made her way to the lodge where she was told to meet her boss and her partner. Upon arriving, she grabbed the notes out of her bag, and began showing Jezebel, who was a bit surprised the 18 year old would do such a thing.   
  
"Look, Jezebel, I found out that around 30 years ago, the school was involved with a murder case. One that was said to have been quite gruesome. The article stated that the murderer was a pig farmer, or at the very least someone that lived on a pig farm." Arabella excitedly told her, as she viewed her notes.

"Wow, you did this all in one night?" Jezebel asked, looking up from the notes to her intern; a look of surprise still on her face.

"Well, I actually did the research on the school in about an hour or so, and everything else in that one night...and partly this morning, but that's besides the point. The killer could be the one to cause the map to take an interest in the school!"

"That's a good idea. Maybe you should show your notes to John, to see what he thinks?"

"Really?" Arabella squeaked; Jezebel had previously told her that John had been in the supernatural business a lot longer than she had, so he knew more.

"Belle, do you have everything we need?" John marched out of the lodge, looking into his bag to double check that he had everything he would need.

"Mr Constantine, can... can I show you something I found out about the school?" Arabella nervously asked, holding out her notes to him; he just strolled right past her, still looking into his bag.

Jezebel gave a frowning pout as her gaze followed after John; she gave a small smile before saying to her intern, "Hold on, I'll go get him for you... He's 'concentrating' at the moment."

She strode over to John, who was stood at the cab waiting for them; she grabbed hold of his arm, and yanked him closer to her, "John, that was incredibly rude what you just did to Ari then." 

"What did I do?" John asked with a shocked tone; Jezebel let go of his sleeve, and he brushed himself off.

"You ignored her. She was trying to show you something. At least try to pay attention to her, she is trying her best." She gave John a glare, before going back over to Arabella, "Go see what she wants, and try to be interested at least."

John rolled his eyes, before following after Jezebel; he approached Arabella, "So, kid; Belle, tells me you have something to show me?"

"Yeah, I found some information on the high school we're going to, and thought you guys would want to see what I found out." Arabella smiled shyly; she shifted from one foot to the other as John read through the notes.

  
"...Wow, these are some... pretty good notes... How...How did you find all of this?" John asked, raising his eyebrows in shock; he looked up from the notes, but down to Arabella (due to him being almost twice her size in height).

"Well, it was kind of hard at first, but I guess you just got to know where to look." Arabella gave a small proud smile, "I checked through multiple articles, and on websites that had accurate data."

"How long did it take you to find the information?"

"The information on the school only took me about an hour to two hours..." Arabella smiled as she was handed her notes back; John still had a look of shock on his face.

He cleared his throat, before regaining control of himself, and speaking, "Well done, kid....I think we better get going."

"That sounds like a good idea." Jezebel stepped in, placing one hand on John's shoulder and the other on Arabella's shoulder, "Arabella, you want to get yourself buckled in?"

"Sure," Arabella scampered over to the cab and climbed in the back; Chas and Zed were already seated - both in the front.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Jezebel gave John a playful punch to his forearm, which made him give her a disapproving look; she smirked, "I told you, it wouldn't be."

"Yeah, yeah, just get in the car." John gave a small smirk, as he climbed into one side of the cab and Jezebel in the other; Zed claimed that she wanted to see someone in the town, so wanted to come along as well.

On the car journey, Arabella was mostly quiet, except for when either Zed or Jezebel involved her in a conversation; she was thinking about what could happen at the high school. But, the thought mostly on her mind was if John would accept her as Jezebel's intern. After they had dropped Zed off at the place she needed to go, the 4 of them headed to the high school. Upon arriving there, John was greeted by a friend that had not long helped John out with a seance: Nigel Archer. He too was a student, one of the older ones; he was also a journalist for the school paper, so would know quite a bit on the case they were looking to do.

"John, didn't you not long come to this area?" Nigel asked; he was quite scrawny looking, and looked high on drugs (most likely a typical teenager nowadays).

"Yeah, well, we were needed back here." John replied, though Nigel seemed more interested in the girls (Jezebel and Arabella).

"Want to introduce me to those two lovely ladies?" Nigel asked, leaning passed John to get a look at them; Jezebel and Arabella were talking with Chas, by the cab, while John talked with Nigel to get some answers.

John looked in the direction that he was looking; he sighed before replying, "The taller, brown haired one with the trench coat is Jezebel, and the shorter one is Arabella. There, now, can we get on with business?"

"Nah, man, I meant properly introduce me." Nigel smirked, already making his way over to the girls; they were still talking with Chas, when he approached, "Ladies."

John quickly walked over; he sounded frustrated when he spoke, "Girls, this is Nigel; the student journalist that I told you would be helping us."

"Nigel Archer, and may I say you two are the most beautiful girls I have ever seen?" Nigel took a bow, before taking hold of Jezebel's hand and kissing it; she looked agitated by his actions.

"Umm, thank you?" Both replied, both sounding confused; John stepped between Nigel and Jezebel.

"I think you've introduced yourself now, Nigel. Let's get to business." John frowned, looking immensely frustrated with Nigel; John began dragging him toward the school building, with the girls and Chas in tow.

"Wow, John, didn't realise how forward you were to do this case." Nigel grinned, giving a quick wink to Arabella; he was walking backwards, trying to keep up with John's pace, who continued to pull him along.

"Yeah, well some of us just want to get this over with and get home. Stop winking at the girls, you'll creep them out." John continued to march on; he knew his way to Nigel's journalist room within the school building, which was by the IT suite. Upon entering the suite, John let go of Nigel's hoodie, "Want to tell him what you found, Arabella?"

"Sure," Arabella got out her notes on the high school once again, "I found out that around 30 years ago a murderer went here, and we reckon this is what the new case is going to be about. Has anything suspicious happened lately?"

"Not one flirty comment or I'll punch you." John sat on one of the chairs, folding his arms, as Nigel was about to speak.

"Okay, then." Nigel moved slightly away from John, before continuing with his answer, "Well, I heard a group of 6 younger students found out about him, and they were rather interested in the supernatural and shit like that. I think they went to the guy's house and performed some sort of ritual."

"Do you know who those students are?"   
  
"Yeah, I'll write them down." Nigel wrote down those 6 students names: Galvin Cage, Gracie Joyce, Cecil Cinderford, Lilith Brighten, Thomas Bailey, and Donovan Owens; due to him being a journalist and working for the school paper, he had access to timetables of students, and was able to get timetables of where those 6 students would be at that moment in time.

Meanwhile, in one of the many science classrooms, one of those previous mentioned students was working on a project. The student in question was Galvin Cage; he was an academically smart boy, and worked incredibly hard for his high grades. He was concentrating so hard on his project that he failed to see the ghostly figure in the reflection of the marble tops of the high tables. He failed to notice the figure move closer to him, every time he moved away from the tables to grab something he needed. When he looked at the desk, his vision was changed to that of an eerie house.

He had a feeling of dread as he knew this was the killer's house; he began searching through it, to see if any of his 5 friends who had previously been to the house had arrived there as well. It was the bedroom where the feeling grew and he didn't know why either. He was about to turn out the room, when he bumped into the killer: a tall man, with a ski mask over his face. Galvin began fearing for his life, backing against the far wall. For every two small steps Galvin took, the killer took one massive one. When his back hit the wall, Galvin's breathing fastened, causing his breathing to hitch. His glasses began fogging due to this.   
  


The killer took out a small vial; the liquid inside was a yellow colour. Galvin recognised this to be hydrochloric acid - the very same acid he was carefully using in his experiment -. The killer began to unscrew the lid of the vial, and this was when Galvin's heart quickened much more. The killer threw the acid into the boy's face, causing it to melt his skin away. It also burned at his glasses, causing them to melt into his skin. Galvin began screaming, trying to itch away the acid, causing more damage to himself.   
  
Back with John, Chas and the girls, the 5 of them planned that they would get a student each, and then regroup to question the final student. The 4 of them left Nigel in the journalist room, since that was where he was supposed to be; John decided he should interview the first student, who would be in the science labs working on a project. When he was wandering down the hallway to the science classrooms, John could smell some sort of burning, and he could have sworn it was an acid-burning-flesh smell. He picked up his pace, and headed to the classroom that he was told Galvin would be.

When John entered the room, the smell became stronger. A lot stronger. He looked around, seeing the boy leaning over the desk into the experiment he was doing (he was trying to expose the Zinc in the pennies he had, using the hydrochloric acid). From where he was stood, John could see that Galvin's body was twitching and quite violently as well. He hurried over to the boy's body, lifting him out of the acid, although it was too late for Galvin. He was already dead.   
  


He quickly got out his mobile and started texting Jezebel, Chas and Arabella - whose number he was given before they separated - to come to his location and fast. He had also texted Zed to come to the school as well. Any teacher or student that happened upon him, he would show his psychic card, which showed that he was an FBI agent. Once everyone had arrived to the scene of the crime, John asked Zed to touch the boy's arm, so they would be able to see what he saw last, before his death.

Upon touching him, she was able to see what the killer showed him before he had thrown the acid in Galvin's face. She could see in the point of view of Galvin, but what he saw was in slow motion, and felt very blurred. He/ she saw that the killer was a lot younger, without his mask, and clearly being bullied. The vision swapped from one moment of him being physically bullied to verbally. He/ she could see that the killer had a pig-like nose, and the comments made by the bullies were clearly based upon this fact. The killer ran toward Galvin's/ Zed's view and that was when the vision ended. She explained to them that the killer had shown Galvin what part of his past was like, before Galvin died.

"Well, if he most likely went after one of them, he is going to go after the rest. Let's call those remaining kids to a private meeting. Chas, call the cops to take the body away." John stepped in; he talked with a teacher to tell them to find those kids, giving them a list of the 5 kids, and that he would like to speak to them, due to them being one of the 6 that trespassed on to the house grounds.

The teacher did as they were asked and gathered all 5 of the students. The students gathered into a spare classroom located near the entrance of the school building, where John and the others were already stood waiting. All, but 2 of the student looked confused to why they were called to this classroom by who they thought was an FBI agent. They each sat at a desk on the front row. John was stood waiting, with his arms crossed and looking rather impatient.

"Why the fuck are we here, when we could be on our way home?" A girl with a shrill voice spoke up; she had light blonde hair, looked to be the youngest there and wore very revealing clothing. John looked down at the 5 profiles in front of him to see that she was called Lilith Brighten.

On their way in, Arabella noticed that Lilith and the boy with her, Thomas Bailey, - who was supposed to be a smart boy, but also tended to be a class clown at times - were holding hands; she also noticed that the girl was boasting about bullying a past student that used to have a crush on Thomas, and the bullying apparently got so bad that the girl in question moved schools. It was because of this fact that Arabella decided she did not like that specific girl or the boy. She knew these type of people well, due to those type bullying Dipper, when he was in high school. She recognised that Lilith was most likely one of those bitchy popular girls, that everyone supposedly loved or at least liked.

John slammed his palms down on the desk that Lilith sat at, scaring all 5 students (Jezebel, Chas and Zed had come to expect it from him, while Arabella just had a strong tolerance of loud noises due to living with Mabel); he clearly looked pissed off with this girl, "You want to know why you're here?"

Lilith nodded, before John continued, "Then shut your mouth."

Thomas stood from his seat, trying to act all tough in front of his girlfriend, "Hey, you can't speak to her like that!"

"You want to bet, mate?" John frowned, narrowing his eyes, as he got up in the boy's face, having to slouch slightly due to how tall he was compared to Thomas; his height added to how intimidating he was, and it actually scared Jezebel sometimes how scary he could get.

Thomas backed down from the fight and whimpered back to his seat; he looked both terrified and embarrassed. He received a few snickers from his classmates. John leaned his butt against the large desk at the front of the classroom with his arms still crossed, "You all think this is funny, don't you?"   
  


When none of the students replied, he continued, "You honestly think fucking trespassing onto land that you little shits shouldn't be on, and then performing a ritual that is way beyond your experience, is funny?! You bloody kids better think twice."

All 5 of the students rolled their eyes; they thought they were getting a lecture on the fact that they trespassed. John noticed this, and Jezebel could tell by his tone of voice that he was becoming more agitated. High school kids were not his forte. She stepped in, "Look, kids; he isn't on about the fact that you trespassed, he's more on about the fact that you performed the ritual..."

Jezebel couldn't continue, as one of the students interrupted her; she saw that the student was called Gracie Joyce, "Why would he be more bothered about that, ghosts don't exist?"

Jezebel stood back as she saw how angry John was getting; he stood up from his leaning position, aggression in his voice, "Ghosts don't fucking exist do they? Tell that to your mate. Galvin Cage died and it was no accident on how he died either. You all probably think that it was all in fun and games, well let me tell you, that you're all fucking stupid for thinking that! You're not fucking listening to what we are saying: your friend died because of what you did the other night! You bloody kids shouldn't mess with this kind of fucking magic!"  
  
How angry he got, caused the students to become absolutely terrified. Thomas and Lilith cooled themselves, because they did not believe what John was saying to them. so they replied with, "Whatever", before they stormed out of the room. Donovan was still terrified of John - which he had right to -, so he stayed seated, but that didn't mean that he believed him. As Lilith and Thomas stormed out the room, Jezebel could evidently see that John was becoming more frustrated with these teens, so she placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him.

"John, at least try to calm down." Jezebel gave a small smile to him, which helped a lot.   
  
Slowly, Cecil raised her hand; Jezebel asked her what she wanted to ask, to which she answered with clear innocence in her voice, "Miss, are you and Mr Constantine an item, 'cause you were able to calm him down in, like, seconds."   
  
Both John and Jezebel began blushing; Jezebel replied with a sweet smile, "N-no, we're not, sweetheart."  
  
"Oh, okay," Cecil seemed rather disappointed at Jezebel's answer, but she quickly perked up, "Are we in trouble?"   
  
The shear innocence of Cecil made both John and Jezebel feel sorry for her; John sighed before replying, "I'm afraid you are, if we can't sort this ghost out."   
  
"Oh," Cecil gave a very flat reply.   
  
While they talked, Arabella turned to Jezebel to ask if she would be able to take a turn at asking them some questions, stating, "I mean I am closer to their age and could possibly get them to co-operate more easily."

Jezebel nodded for her to take over; she called John over to her, once he had finished talking to the students, and told him of Arabella's plan. He nodded in agreement, meaning Arabella took over. She asked questions about the house they went to, about the murder, and so on. She seemed incredibly confident in asking the students questions and clear in what answers she wanted from them. Donovan told her of where the house was. Cecil and Gracie then took it in turns to tell her of the murder, while Arabella made notes of the answers the students gave.

She found out the killer's name was Robert Mordrake, a boy - or rather man - who lived on a nearby farm on the outskirts of the town. This was where he committed the murders and also died. She gathered from what Zed told her of the bullying through the visions, that was what drove Robert to kill. Once Arabella was done questioning, John allowed the students to go home, since they had been kept long enough.

On her way home, Gracie was passing the school gardens, which was usual for her; she was just about to turn the corner, when she heard what she thought was an animal in pain. She stopped in her tracks to see if she heard right. She didn't hear anything, so was about to continue on her journey, when she heard it again. It sounded like a cat most likely caught in the wiring used to keep the taller plants up right. She opened the entrance gate, and used her phone as a flashlight to guide her way. She spotted it, and she was right in thinking it was a cat caught in the wiring. She put down her bag, and tried to untangle the cat's paws from the wires. The cat hissed before scampering off.

Gracie looked down at her phone and saw the reflection of the killer. She shook her head, just thinking she was tired. But, when she looked again, he hadn't disappeared like she hoped he would. He was still there. He pulled her into his dimension. When she opened her eyes, she saw that she was in a yard. She looked around, to see it mostly abandoned except for Galvin, who was near the front door of the house. He was waving for her to come toward him. She found this creepy, due to not long being told that he was dead, so she headed in the opposite direction.   
  


She strolled around the far end of the yard to find a pig pen; it looked empty at first. She looked in further to see them huddled in their shelter. There was something off about these pigs though. It might have been how green their eyes glowed, or the massive tusks that grew on either side of their mouths, but she just shrugged this off and began on the rest of the way. She was stopped in her tracks in the entrance of the barn as the killer was in there. He was hanging something on the hooks: Galvin. The disturbing part about it all was that Galvin was still moving and even though he had just been impaled through the back of the head with a sharp hook, he didn't look to be in any pain and just signalled for her to join him. She panicked and slammed the door shut. She ran in the direction of where the pig pen was, and hid behind the stone walls inside the pen.

She heard shuffling over the walls, and then it was gone. She kept having flashes of the killer being bullied, and how it made him feel angry toward them. How it made him want to hurt something, and hurt it really bad as well. How he fantasised about killing one or all of the bullies. The flashes caused her to stumble back into the dry mud, sitting underneath the wall.   
  


Suddenly she felt something tickling her leg. It felt light. When she looked, she saw a small pig; his whiskers tickled her bare legs as he sniffed her. She gave a small smile to the pig, which looked up at her. It squealed before it began chomping on her leg, the massive tusks tearing slightly into her skin. She screeched, kicking the pig away. Its high squeal caused the other, larger pigs to come out. They began surrounding her. She slipped in the mud, which seemed to be a lot more wetter than when she first entered the pen, and was not able to stand, not aiding in her escape. The pigs grunted as they tore into her flesh. The pigs eventually moved from her legs, which were almost bare bone except for the odd piece of flesh and muscle hanging off, to her torso, and then up from there.

By the next morning, she was nothing but bone and tiny strips of flesh, with the clothes hanging off the bones. An unfortunate gardener came across her the next morning in the school gardens. He almost had a heart attack at the sight, he told Jezebel, who noted down what he had told her. Chas gave a rough estimate to how long she had been dead, by how decomposed her flesh was, saying it must have been at least 5 hours. Though not liking John's idea, Zed touched one of the bones to see what the girl had seen last. Once her vision was done, Zed wiped her hands on her jeans, giving a disgusted face, and then explained what she had seen through the girl's eyes.   
  


"Was the same ghost involved?" Arabella asked, almost immediately after Zed had finished explaining; John looked as if he was about to ask that very same question, only to give a look of complete shock combined with proud.

"Yes," Zed replied, slowly nodding.

"Okay, so far it definitely looks as if he is only going after the group of kids that performed the ritual, so let's call those kids back." John suggested, as he quickly headed in the direction that the principal's/ headmaster's office would be; he quickly called them to gather those 4 students who he had previously talked with.   
  
Back in the same room, where they started with 5 students and now had 4, John stood at the far end of the front talking with Jezebel, Zed and Arabella; Chas had gone to the cab to park it up properly, so it wouldn't get towed, and then he would stay in there until the talk with the students was done. Donovan and Cecil were slightly confused, while Lilith and Thomas were once again agitated that they were called back to this classroom again, for what they thought were no reason.

John began his lecture once again, "You said ghosts weren't real. If ghosts aren't real explain what happened Galvin Cage and, now Gracie Joyce? You kids, you think you know everything. Well, let me tell you, you know next to nothing. I've seen shit you can't possibly imagine."

He was soon interrupted by Lilith - once again -, "I still don't see how this is my... I mean our fault. Those two should have been more careful. I'm pretty sure I'll be fine, I'm too pretty to be killed off."   
  
John and Jezebel held back the laugh in their throats; Arabella huffed under her breath, "Heh, yeah, sure."

"That's it... I've had enough of this." Lilith stormed out the room; she grabbed hold of Cecil, and took her with her. Cecil struggled to keep up, and John just let them go, thinking it would be their own fault - or rather Lilith's - if they were to die.   
  


Lilith dragged Cecil to the top of the stairwell that lead from the entrance to where the art classrooms were; Lilith leaned against the wall set across from the stairwell, her arms folded across her chest and a frown on her face. Cecil stood beside her friend, nervously waiting for what her friend had to say.

"I can't believe them, especially that..guy.. I mean, it's not exactly our fault, is it? They really should have been more careful... He really is a twat; thinks he knows better than us. Ha! Like, sure he does." Lilith made small hand gestures toward the classroom in which the lecture was taking place at that time, "He has no right treating us like this; why are those useless teachers letting him?"

Cecil shrugged; once her friend had finished with her rant, Cecil stepped in, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Lil, I wouldn't worry about it too much; I mean he'll be gone once it's all over, right? And then, we wouldn't be bothered by him again?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Heh, I don't even know why I was so upset over someone like him." Lilith beamed; as she spoke the reflection of the ghost killer could be seen in the window to the side of Lilith. Cecil immediately spotted this, and began backing away, "What the hell are you scared of?"

"B-be-behind y-you." Cecil pointed a shaky finger to the window; the killer loomed over a now terrified Lilith, who also backed away, but the killer used the fact that he was merely a piece of 'their imagination' to pull them into his dimension.

When they opened their eyes, the two girls could see they were at the top of the stairs to his house; Lilith suddenly got a headache, so crouched down, causing Cecil to worry and try to get her friend to stand. Lilith opened her eyes, only it wasn't Cecil she saw. It was the killer. Lilith stumbled back, causing Cecil to back off. Lilith looked around in a hurry, while Cecil looked at her in confusion. She spotted a pencil laying on the floor in the corner by the wall and grabbed it. She lunged at Cecil, aiming the sharp end of the pencil at her. She just about missed. She lunged again, this time stabbing Cecil in her neck.

Cecil's hand went straight to her neck, to stop the bleeding; she stepped back away from Lilith with a look of betrayal and shock on her face. She coughed up bits of blood, before stopping just above the first step. She stopped and glared at Lilith, who was hunched over, huffing. Lilith suddenly charged at Cecil, pushing her down the stairs. On her way down them, Cecil broke her neck. She lay at the bottom of the stairs, in a position that was beyond natural.   
  
As she lay at the bottom of the stairs, slowly, losing consciousness, Cecil witnessed the killer's own twisted fantasies of what he wished he could do to those who bullied him. How he wished he could murder them to get them back for all the times they had hurt him with words and their hands. Cecil saw that he intended on luring them back to him place, one at a time. His parents worked late anyway, so he could do what he wanted at those times. He kept thinking how he wouldn't have been able to get away with it or pull any of it through, but his fantasies continued. He dreamt of killing them each in their own special way, similar to how they bullied him. His fantasies led up to Cecil's breathing hitching a lot quicker, causing a massive amount of pain to run through her body. This was just before she died.

From the top of the stairs, Lilith stood shaking her head as she now saw Cecil at the bottom of the stairs with her neck gushing blood and was now dead. She had seen her twitching violently before she passed on, making Lilith feel uneasy and guilty, which she did not like. Lilith ran off to one of the bedrooms, only it wasn't the bedroom she found herself in, but a kitchen. She hastily looked around to see if anyone or anything was in there, before entering fully.

Suddenly she was hit with a vision of the killer playing out his fantasies, except they weren't just fantasies any longer; they were real. The ghost - who was around 13 at the time - was pulling those fantasies through that he thought himself too weak and cowardly to do. He didn't realise how real his fantasies were, not even those who were innocent victims. He even used his pigs in the murders, mostly in ridding of the bodies. He was - in a sense - innocent; he didn't know he was doing wrong. The vision ended with Lilith being shown all her friends being murdered, including how Cecil was killed by her. She couldn't take it, she began crying hysterically.

When she looked up, she saw the killer; she eagerly grabbed a knife and pointed it at him, warning him to stay back or she would use it on him. The killer tried to take the knife off her, only for her to actually put up a fight and a good one at that. He decided he should take matters into his own hands. Due to the dimension belonging to him, he was able to take full control of her, and not just make her imagine him this time, but instead he took control of her hand movement. He turned the blade of the knife toward her eye, her hand shaking violently as she tried to resist. Unfortunately, she could not resist fully. The ghost had her scrape out her own eyes, using the knife, and at the end of it, she laid in a pool of her blood holding where her eyes were and curled up into a ball. Due to the massive blood loss, she died. It had all happened within the space of 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, Donovan and Thomas were being sent home; Thomas was the first to leave the classroom, happening upon the lifeless body of Cecil at the bottom of the stairs. A pool of blood formed around her neck and face. He let out a bloodcurdling scream, causing the others to come rushing out. He stood frozen on the spot, not far from the classroom. Jezebel and Arabella tried to get him to look away, but he was in a state of shock, unable to move. John barked an order at Zed to go get a teacher to call an ambulance to pick up the body, and to take the boy with her. Zed did as she was asked, gently pulling the boy along to the office of the headmaster. John strode up the steps, taking - what must have looked to Jezebel and Arabella - two steps at a time. He ducked his head in and out of each classroom and almost passed one, when he saw her.

On the floor, underneath the chalkboard, was Lilith's body. He saw her covered in blood, but the source coming from her face. Due to her being on her stomach, he couldn't exactly tell what caused her to bleed out so much, that was until he flipped her over.

"Holy shit." John shouted, backing away slightly; he saw her empty eye sockets gaping at him.

Donovan, Arabella and Jezebel walked in to echo him, "Holy shit!"

"It looks like she was forced to take her own eyes out," John covered his face, pointing to the carving knife near her hand.

"Wait, is that a carving knife? Why would a school have need for a carving knife in a school?" Jezebel asked, "It's not like they would use it for the art class, right?"

"That is correct, that type of knife is used for meat carving." Arabella stepped in, taking a closer look at the knife by the girl's hand.

"Wait, so either me or Thomas could be next?" Donovan asked, generally looking terrified now.

"Well, that is possible, but...I suppose he doesn't attack, while you're in larger groups, otherwise he would have taken you all down at once." John stated; he stood up, wiping himself down, "I guess, we better go wait with your mate."

Upon meeting up with Thomas back at the main office, John decided that they should go to the sports hall in order to set up for a ritual that would get them into the dimension that the ghost worked through; they used the sports hall because of its massive size. John started preparing the sports area for the ritual he was to set in motion. While he was preparing for the ritual, Thomas constantly asked John if any of it was real.

"Seriously, will you fucking stop asking, and for the last time, yes. It is real." John gave a rather annoyed reply; he looked up slightly from the symbol he was drawing on the floor of the sports hall, and then continued.

"No, it... It can't be... This is all just... Just a prank. They're not actually dead; they'll probably come out from somewhere to scare the living shit out of us, while we're doing this bullshit ritual." Thomas began waving his arms around in his panic stricken state; John looked over his shoulder, annoyed.

"Does it look like I'm fucking kidding?" John raised an eyebrow, frowning; he went back to preparing the ritual.

"No, I guess you're don't... But, that doesn't mean... you're not lying... You... They're alive..." Thomas was beginning to pace, and Donovan noticed this; he asked John if he could take Thomas to the changing rooms to calm him down, which John agreed to.

Upon entering the changing rooms, Thomas continued his rant about how this thing was all a prank and nothing more. He paced the whole room, multiple times. Donovan watched as he sat on one of the benches; he suggested, when Thomas stopped and sat next to him, "Maybe... Maybe it is more than it seems, Tom?"   
  


"What do you mean by that?" Thomas leaned forward on to his thighs, looking up at Donovan.

"Well, maybe that guy is right. Maybe it someone... Maybe it's something more extreme than what we think?"

"Man, they got you good." Thomas chuckled as he shook his head.

The two boys sat in silence for a couple of minutes, that was until Donovan gave a horrified look; Thomas gave him a questionable look, before Donovan pointed a shaky finger behind Thomas toward the full-size mirror. Thomas reluctantly, slowly turned to face what Donovan was pointing at; what he saw, sent a shiver down his spine. He recognised the killer from the ritual they performed at the house, about 3 days ago.

Suddenly their surroundings changed to that of eerie; there was a feeling of abandonment to the place they were now in: the killer's house. They stood on the porch to the killer's house. In the distance they could see the killer rushing as them, in his hand there was what looked like a metal pole. The two of them stumbled over each other as they bolted inside the house, which looked and felt more eerie than the outside; it looked rotten from the core and up. They ran into the living room, trying to find a hiding place. After a while all seemed quiet, so Thomas thought to check if the coast was clear, only for Donovan to whisper to him to get back to his hiding place.

He wasn't far from walking out of the living room, when he was suddenly impaled right through the abdomen. He looked down to see a metal rod pushed through his torso, and slowly looking up, he saw a face full of rage. He looked into the killer's eyes to see pure rage and also in them, where he was meant to see his reflection, a reflection of another boy who looked very similar to him, but a lot different in looks. This made him guess that the killer saw him as the boy that mainly bullied him.

A small flashback happened upon them both; this causes them both to gasp in shock as they saw the killer's final moments alive. In the vision, he was being chased onto his farm by the town's people - those who were parents of the teenagers that Robert killed. They were enraged and wanted him dead, unbeknownst to what their children had done to him prior to his murders. They chased him into a meat locker, where they had a poisonous gas enter the ventilation system. Though, lethal injection was the only form of legal execution in Pennsylvania, the town's people thought the make-shift gas chamber was the only suitable method of execution for Robert. His death was very slow and painful, due to the gas taking its time to seep into his lungs. His screams of pain could be heard miles from the farm, and this was what echoed in Thomas' ears as the vision ended.

The killer ripped off his mask, to reveal his true face; Thomas' eyes widened as Robert slowly twisted the pole, before taking it out. He repeatedly stabbed Thomas in all the areas that would not kill him instantly, and give a slow, painful death. To finish Thomas off, Robert ejected the pole from him, and forced it back into him via the heart. A loud cracking of his ribs could be heard as the pole collided and slide right through them. This powerful blow killed him instantly, with a look of true horror on his face. Upon pulling out the pole, Robert also pulled out Thomas' heart in the process.

From his hiding spot, Donovan saw the whole event take place; the horror on his face was truly real and he certainly wished it wasn't. He also hoped that the killer would forget about him now that Thomas was dead and let him go. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case because the killer looked in his direction, and threw Thomas' body to one side, like it was trash. He started to stride in Donovan's direction, which both startled and frightened him. The killer threw the pipe to one side, causing a loud clang to ring through the house, as he stepped closer to the boy. His hands were around Donovan's neck within seconds. The tightness of Robert's hands caused Donovan's colour to turn blue, and then a purple.

A sudden sound of thunder caused Robert to loosen his grip slightly; that was when John stumbled through the door. Quickly regaining his composure, John quickly began a spell that would cause the ghost to retreat. Unfortunately this did not happen. Instead, Robert was able to use what powers he had in his dimension to have a metal cord come out of the wall; he had it wrap itself around John's neck and pull him to the far wall, basically pinning him against it. This caused John to struggle for air, and Robert just continued to strangle Donovan, though he did have to keep some energy on John as well.

Meanwhile, the girls stayed behind to keep watch over John's body; this was under John's request in case anything went wrong. He thought he could handle it on his own, due to him being the more experienced one of the three. Arabella and Jezebel were just casually chatting away, when John suddenly began gasping for air. The two of them began to panic for a couple of seconds, and quickly regained control. Jezebel tried to help him breath, thinking of the different first aid methods that could work for choking, only for them not to work. Arabella suggested that she go in.

"Well, I guess since I am the one that put that protection/ resurrection spell on him, I should be the one to stay behind." Jezebel stated

"Wait, you put a resurrection spell on him; does he know?" Arabella asked, a small smirk on her face.

"No... It was done for precautions, okay?" Jezebel blushed; she quickly prepared to send Arabella in to the ghost's dimension, "You ready?"

Arabella nodded, "Yes," and was sent in; she stumbled in on a scene of the ghost standing over Donovan with his hands around his neck, while John was held in place on the far wall by a metal cord. He looked on the verge of death, so it was lucky Arabella stepped in when she did. Upon her entering the dimension and him seeing her, John shot Arabella a glance; an angry one at that. This would most likely be due to her not following his orders. His mood suddenly changed to that of realisation that his life was still in danger, which Arabella took as a hint to get on with whatever plan she had.

She stepped up to the killer, who was focused on trying to kill Donovan, but also having his energy strangle John. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to violently spin around to face her. He looked like he would lunge at her, but her kind eyes caused him to stop in his tracks.

With a sweet, caring voice, she told him, "Please, stop. You're only making it worse. I understand why you're so angry. You want them to feel as much pain as you did. To make them suffer as much as you did. To get more control out of your life. But, please trust me when I say this, Robert, those bullies. They are still controlling you. They're controlling you with that rage you feel for them. You don't need to do this; you don't need to let them control you any longer. You should be free."

She hugged him, shocking him and the others in the room. During all of her speech, Donovan is hiding in a corner of the living room. Upon understanding Arabella's speech, the killer nods, before calmly passing on in peace; this caused the dimension to brighten in colour. John was released from the ghost's grip, allowing him to gasp in air. John regained control of himself, as Arabella helped Donovan to his feet. He was chattering to himself about how ghosts were real and how all his friends were now dead.

"Well, I guess he's going to need a bit of therapy now, with what he's just been through and on the account that all his mates are dead." John gave a small laugh, after rubbing his neck, where the cord held him in place; there was a thin bruise that encircled his neck.

Arabella also gave a small laugh; she had to hold Donovan up, for he looked like he would collapse into a ball. Their journey back to reality required them to be together and standing. When back in the real world, Jezebel had to bandage up John's neck, due to some places being cut open and bleeding. Arabella walked Donovan to the office, so she could talk with the principal/ headmaster about the whole situation being dealt with, but the boy not being able to cope with the fact that all his friends were gone; Jezebel and John waited by the cab with Chas and Zed already inside it.

They leaned on the bonnet, waiting for Arabella to join them. She happily jogged up to them, to see them chatting. Jezebel gave John a look before she climbed into the back of the cab. This left John and Arabella alone.

"You know kid, you not following orders and your plan today could have gone south so many horrible ways. We both could have been killed, as well as the lad. The ghost could have escaped, causing more death. He could have possessed you or someone else, and upon possessing another, he could have fulfilled more murders." John sounded like he was going to continue a lecture, causing Arabella to look to the ground in shame; that was when he smirked and complimented her, "And it's a good thing you didn't follow my commands. For that, I thank you for not only saving my life, but Belle's at long shot as well."

"Really?" Arabella squeaked, looking hopeful.

John nodded, before replying with a smirk and, "Welcome to the 'family', kiddo." The two of them climbed into the back, along with Jezebel, and they went on their way home to Atlanta.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The school name is based on two real life high schools in Pennsylvania, both supposedly haunted (Pennhurst and Greensburg Salem); the first one by the name was shown on up to 3 different shows that are set to the supernatural. Also, the killer's name is based on a real life serial killer - Robert Pickton - and Edward Mordrake from the 4 season of American Horror Story. This chapter is mostly/ loosely based on episode 11 of the 2014 Constantine series (A Whole World Out There). The killer's death is also very loosely based on Freddy Kruger's.


	28. Primary School Days

Sitting in the living area of the lodge, Jezebel and John listened to the radio as they looked through the notes that they had made on their latest case. The two of them were quite confident that they would get this case done quickly and without much fuss. Though, they focused on the notes and getting them more organised (due to Jezebel feeling uncomfortable if they weren't), the two of them chatted every so often; either to ask the other for a certain note or to rid of the silence that surrounded them.

It wasn't long into organising their notes, that an advertisement came on. One that Jezebel would rather not hear due to this being the place the bullying started at. It was for her old primary school, and even included the awful school anthem that the students were made to sing at every assembly. She tried so hard to ignore it, glad that John was so focused on the notes to recognise her discomfort for the advertisement, but that didn't stop Jez from bringing back the nightmare that Jezebel considered her Hell.

"Aw, Jezzy, don't you remember all the 'fun' times we had there?" Jez took over Jezebel's thoughts with her loud, echoing voice; to Jezebel, they sounded like one of those high pitched, annoying voices of the girls that bullied her all the way through both primary and high school.   
  
Trying not to say anything out loud, Jezebel commented back to Jez via thoughts, "It may have been 'fun' for you, but it was like Hell for me, and trust me when I say this, I've been to Hell."

  
"Oh, I know about that, darling. Don't you remember how you used to sit alone at those break times, with only me or another spirit friend to keep you company? Though, it was mainly me to keep you company..."   
  
"I remember... I also remember people either running away in fear or coming up to me and saying cruel things, whenever they saw me talking to you. I remember that before you came along, I was doing pretty well. I actually had a couple of friends and could stay at the back of classes without being seen, like I originally wanted."   
  
"Oh, but how can you call those people your friends, when the first sign of you being even the tiniest bit weird, they run off. They left you alone. Before me, you were truly alone. Think about it: would they have stayed, even before me if they knew from the beginning of your gift?" Jez smirked - a vision of them would often appear inside Jezebel's mind, when they talked -; for a while, Jezebel didn't answer Jez.

"Well, I got on with my work before you, and a lot of the teachers didn't mind it when I talked... to ghosts, even if I did get distracted from work from time to time. A couple of teachers even supported my gift."

"Oh, you mean like that teacher you were close to, before she left? What was her name?"

"Mrs McAshworth..." A small smile appeared on Jezebel's lips upon remembering her favourite teacher's name, "She was the sweetest teacher there, and she gave great advice; though she was considered a bit odd, and I wouldn't necessarily call that a bad thing, she was all about the environment and helping out both animals and others. She was the only one to believe in my gift and even encouraged me to use it for the greater good. She tried her best in giving advice, as well, for it."   
  
"Yeah, but don't you remember the look of disgust she gave you when you cried in front of her? Because one of your ghost friends talked to you in front of a bully? Wasn't she also the first teacher you cried in front of?"

"...Yes, she was the first teacher I cried in front of...but you were that 'ghost friend' to talk to me in front of that bully..."   
  
"Didn't she also point you out, when she witnessed that some kids were bullying you? She used you as an example of why they shouldn't bully, because it could mess victims of bullying up. She basically called you messed up, you know. She gave those kids detention, which would obviously make them hate you more."

"Stop making her out to be the bad person!" Jezebel didn't realise it, but at that moment she had quietly said her latest reply out loud, causing John to look up slightly and furrow his eyebrows before he went back to focusing on the notes.

"And why not?"

"She was the only person I felt I could talk to! I couldn't even talk to my parents about that sort of stuff. 1. because mum would even deny I even had that stupid gift, with her being a church nut and all. 2. Dad would clearly get angry whenever I mentioned one word about it..." Jezebel paused for a few minutes before continuing, "I had somewhere to go at breaks and lunch. She gave me a safe place at that school. She let me help out with any small jobs because she knew I hated being alone on that playground...."

"Yeah, because sharpening pencils at break would make you so much more popular..." Jez sarcastically said; a quite evil grin appeared on their face, "And don't you remember how she left you? She abandoned you, leaving you alone at that place."

"No, she had to leave! She had a sick family member to take care of in another country!"   
  
"Oh, but she really did abandon you. Didn't you see that look of pure happiness as she told you that she was leaving? She was actually leaving because of you, you know? Glad to be away from you... Like everyone else will eventually do... They'll all abandon you, you know."

"Shut it...." Jezebel's voice was getting a little bit louder, causing John lookup for a bit longer and frown, still furrowing his eyebrows.  
  
"Belle, yer alright?" He asked; Jezebel just nodded, quickly going back to her notes, which he slowly did the same, "Alright then, if yer sure."

"Don't you remember how during group activities, no one would want to pick you, or if the teacher put you all in groups, you would be ignored and have to do all the work yourself? Don't you remember how the teachers, all through your years at that place, either ignored you or picked on you by choosing you to answer questions you obviously didn't know the answers to, all because they thought of you as too 'odd'?" Jez continued to push Jezebel in her head.   
  
"Please, shut up..." Jezebel quietly said; tears actually strolled down her cheeks, lightly hitting the paper. She put her head in her hands, head down and fingers going through her hair. 

"Don't you remember that black haired, overweight girl, who went out of her way to bully you, who also went to the same high school as you? She constantly made your life a living hell... as did the 3 or 5 girls that hung around her. She would make fun of you every chance she got... Didn't help that she also had a big gob..."

"I hated most students, but her most of all..." Jezebel quietly said to herself.

"And another student, an Asian boy called Ryan, wasn't he? He would constantly make cruel jabs toward you being able to see ghosts. He would make fun of you every chance he got too."   
  
"Some of the things he did... I hated him for it... He would turn my computer off in IT class... He would scribble over my drawings and work. He even joked about how I would be able to see my family more when they die... and that I could make my own friends up..."

"But that wasn't all, was it?"

"No, he did way more than just those things..."

"And it wasn't just the students that bullied you..." Jez's grin grew at how much they saw it was affecting Jezebel, "The teachers joined as well... to be more specific... 2 teachers... A french teacher, that constantly compared you to an old friend... constantly made out how much better your old friend was..."   
  
"We were in the same class... until she moved up to a higher set.."   
  
"Didn't she also claim that you didn't have any friends because of how odd you are?"   
  
"Yeah, she did..."

"Wasn't there also a science teacher that was cruel to you over your gift? He often bullied you... Often claimed that you were stupid because he believed your gift and the ghosts you talked about didn't exist... He even went as far to slap you, when you kept saying that they did exist..."   
  
"I was terrified of him..."

"Yeah, made you so terrified that you hated science, one of your favourite lessons."

"Science wasn't the only class I didn't like; I didn't like french or maths either."   
  
"Love, maths is a normal lesson to hate... You had a reason to hate the other two."

"I guess..."

"I reckon we should have knocked those people off like we did with your family, right?"

"No."

"They wouldn't have hurt you anymore after that, would they? Wouldn't have made fun of you?"   
  


"No, stop it!" Jezebel's voice was getting progressively louder, causing John to look up once more.

"You killed your parents because of those people... You killed your baby brother..."

Jezebel shouted, "Well, if you hadn't talked to me in front of all them and pressured me until I did, then I wouldn't have done all that! I wish you never followed me around! I wish I had never met you!"

John took this as a hint that Jez was annoying her; he sprang up off his chair and ran over to Jezebel. He took her hands in his and lowered them; he then cupped her face in his palms, trying to distract her from talking anymore with Jez.

"Belle, c'mon; Jez is just trying to get on yer bad side, and it looked like it was working there." John looked Jezebel in the eyes, realising that she was on the edge of crying again, so quickly pulled her into a hug, "C'mon, love, it's alright. Those people from yer past... they're gone now. They can't hurt you anymore, can they?"

"But, John, you know better than I do, that they can... Their ghosts, or rather the ones in my head, can. Through Jez and my memories. I can't let them go... It's hard."

"Hey, hey, I know." John pulled her into the hug even tighter, "But, you shouldn't have to relive them all the time..."   
  
"I...I know, but I can't help it.."   
  
After a short while, John held her out at arm's length, "How's about you and I go get a drink or something to get you out the house?"

She nodded in response, and he smiled, using his thumbs to wipe away her tears, "Great, I think we needed a bit of a break anyway."   
  



	29. Meeting Zatanna

A normal day investigating the supernatural, Zed, Jezebel and John sat on the floor in the living area of the lodge with paper piles surrounding them; they shifted through them comparing and making notes. That was when John's phone began ringing. He looked around for it, finding it in his coat that laid over the back of the couch. He rummaged through the inner pocket to find his phone. He looked at the caller ID to see it was unknown. He sighed, knowing he would have to answer, and went into the kitchen to do that. From where they sat, Zed and Jezebel could hear only John's side of the conversation. 

'Hello? Zatanna, is that you?' He answered; his tone took on a slightly worried tone as he asked, 'What's wrong? You've not called for over a year or so...' He paused for her to answer, letting her know he was still listening with a curious, 'Uh-huh...' His tone suddenly took on a protective manner, 'You have to come over here. I can help you sort this out... Never mind 'but', you need help sorting this, otherwise you wouldn't have called me.' He paused again as she talked, and finally said, 'Alright, I'll see you in a couple of days.' He hung up, and strolled back into the living area.

"So, who was that you were talking to?" Jezebel asked with a highly curious tone in her voice.

John sat back in his spot on the floor between Jezebel and Zed; he replied with a small smile, "That was Zatanna. She's an old friend that I used to work with... and we also kinda dated for a short while..."

"Jezzy, you'll love her; she is a very talented magician!" Zed stepped in.

"She's completely right there; Zee is the most talented young magician I've ever known, and you both know for a fact I know a lot of magicians." John added, "She often doesn't really call, but the times she does usually means she's in deep trouble, since she prefers to solve her own problems."

"Oh?" Jezebel sounded calm and interested, but in reality she could feel herself become more frustrated; she could feel her jealousy rising.

"Yeah, she's one of those people that don't really depend on others. That's partly what makes her a great person." John let out a small chuckle; he continued with his work, not noticing the anger in Jezebel's eyes, "She's coming down for a week, in a couple of days."

"That's pretty interesting to know," Jezebel stood up, wiping herself down before heading to the door of the lodge; her tone took on a slight bit of aggression, though not too obvious to notice at first, "Just going outside for a bit,"

With a slight bit of confusion to why she suddenly wanted to go outside, John replied with, "Uh, okay. We'll be here if you need anything, love."

Zed's eyes followed as Jezebel exited the lodge; she noticed the slight discomfort in her voice, and thought it could be due to an old flame of John's coming to visit. She stood up, telling John she would be right back. She too exited the lodge, looking around for Jezebel. She found her sat on a log on the edge of the wooded area beside the lodge.

"Want to explain what just happened?" Zed gave a small smile, sitting next to Jezebel on the log.   
  


"I don't honestly know..."   
  


"Really, because I think it has something to do with one of John's old flames coming, and the fact that you like him?"   
  


"Is it really that obvious?" Jezebel glanced up, a worried look on her face.   
  


"To me, yeah. To John, not so much."   
  


"Zed, I don't know what to do; I want to try, at least, to be friends with her... But, I also want to bite her head off, especially if she makes a move on John..."   
  


"Well, that sounds a bit extreme." Zed gave a small laugh, "But, I reckon you should try to give her a chance; I've met her. She's really nice and she's a talented magician... I also heard that she is over and done with John, so you don't need to worry there."   
  


"Okay... will you be there? I might need someone to keep an eye on me, just in case..."  
  


"Well, that there is a problem; I'll only be there for a couple of hours... 5 at the most, and I heard she's staying the whole week."   
  


"Sounds like so much fun..." Jezebel groaned  
  


"I'm sure you'll be fine,"   
  


"You clearly don't remember what I was like when I first met you, a few months of staying here."   
  


"Oh, I do, but now look at us; do you honestly think you are that bad?"  
  


"Yes." Jezebel gave an instant reply  
  


"Jezebel, Zatanna does care for John, but only as friends, so you honestly don't need to worry. If it does worry you that much... I guess I could try to stay a couple of days.."   
  


"Really?" 

"Only if you are willing to be friend with Zatanna."   
  


"Ugh, fiinnne.. I'll try, but I'm not promising we'll hit it off." 

"I don't expect you to." Zed added with a small laugh.

The night before Zatanna's arrival, Jezebel was having trouble sleeping, so decided to go for a walk around the outside of the lodge; still with her nightclothes on, she threw on her trench coat. She knew this was because of Zatanna visiting tomorrow. She knew that it wasn't just her being jealous of her, but also because of unprepared she felt. She liked to be prepared before meeting any new friends - or in this case an old friend of John's -, so she felt anxious over not knowing much. After her walk, she still didn't feel very tired, and decided she could use a form of stress relief. She sat on the front step of the lodge, and took out her packet of cigarettes from her inner pocket of her coat. She took one out of the packet, and lit it.

A couple of minutes later, John got up himself wanting a drink; that was his main goal, until he saw the door to Jezebel's room ajar. Sensing something was wrong since she always fully closed the door when she was sleeping, he rushed to the living area and starting to worry slightly when she wasn't there. He grabbed his coat, and was about to rush out the door, when he almost tripped over Jezebel. He stood in the doorway, looking down at Jezebel, who was still smoking.

He smiled slightly, "Mind if I join you?"

"Sure," Jezebel budged over, so he could sit down; he plopped next to her, taking out his own packet of cigarettes, and lighting one.

He took a drag, before speaking, "So, what's troubling ya, love?"

Jezebel was hesitant for a while, which almost worried John, but she eventually told him, "I guess, I just feel uncomfortable with new people, but it's also... nah, it doesn't matter, it's stupid..."   
  
"Go on,"

"I... I feel jealous of how close you are to her..." She paused, waiting for him to answer; she didn't look at him, "See, I told you it was stupid."

John partly confirmed what Zed had told Jezebel earlier that week, "Belle, Zee and I, we're over and done with that part of our lives. We're honestly just friends, and we're not even that close.. Well, not anymore."   
  


"Oh," Jezebel continued to look to the ground; every so often taking a drag of her cigarette and eventually flicking it to the floor once she finished it, "Sorry about getting upset over something silly like that."

"Hey, I know how much you can get anxious." John smiled; he placed an arm around her shoulders, slowly rubbing her back, knowing it usually helped to both calm her and make her feel a bit sleepy. This eventually worked, actually causing her to fall asleep on his shoulder, on the doorstep, meaning John had to carry her to her room.

~John's inner monologue ~

Hmm, maybe the girls could use some alone time....  
Huh, I should leave them locked in a room...

That's actually not a bad idea, maybe leave them in the lodge; I mean I know Jezebel is too polite to leave a guest alone, so she'll obviously stay.   
I could say I'm going out for supplies, which is partly true, so it works...  
Yeah, that's a good idea  
~End of monologue ~

The next morning, John, Jezebel and Zed spent it at least making the place look presentable for a guest; not long after they finished, Zatanna arrived at the door. Zed was the one to open the door for her, meaning she was the one to greet Zatanna. Zed allowed her to come into the lodge, before she fully greeted her with a hug, and a friendly 'it's nice to see you again', while Zed tried not to touch Zatanna's skin due to her psychic abilities that would take effect whenever she touched someone. Zatanna saw John leaning against the couch, his arms folded and a smirk on his face.

"Yer not gonna say 'hi' to your old friend, before new friends? That's rather rude, Zee." His smirk grew, as she smiled; he opened his arms, "C'mere."   
  
Zatanna hugged him, "It's good to see you again, John."

"And you," He hugged her back.

"So, where's this girl that you talk so much about; Jezebel did you say her name was?" Zatanna looked around, meaning she parted from the hug; John's cheeks went a slight pink.

He cleared his throat before speaking, "Yeah, she's around somewhere."

"Well, go get her; I wanna meet her." Zatanna pushed John toward where the bedrooms were located, thinking Jezebel would probably be there.

Zed giggled, "You two catch up, I'll go look for her."

Zed did as she suggested and went in search for Jezebel; she eventually found her in the small library part that was on the upper level of the lodge. She was sat in her usual corner, on the old dusty armchair reading. Her back was to Zed, and upon hearing Zed's footsteps, she quickly whipped off her glasses.

"When are you ever not on that chair?" Zed smiled, raising an eyebrow.

"Thought I could use a bit of catch up on my reading..." Jezebel gave a small smile, closing her book and putting back on the pile that sat next to the chair.

"Since when do you need to catch up on your reading? You're always reading." Zed gave a small laugh; Jezebel got up, hiding something into her pocket (her glasses), which Zed tried to take a look at, "C'mon, Zatanna's here, and she wants to meet you."

"Oh?" Jezebel tried to sound interested as she followed Zed, who turned back with a look.

"Come on, Jezzy; she really does want to meet you, and I'm pretty sure you two will end up good friends."

"Well, we'll have to see, won't we?" Jezebel followed reluctantly; coming down the stairs, they could hear laughter coming from living area, and from the laughter they could determine that it was indeed it was John and Zatanna. Jezebel took a deep breath, and put on her best 'smile'.

Zatanna and John were happily chatting about their past, when Jezebel and Zed entered the room. Jezebel was rubbing her right arm with her left hand, something she did when anxious or feeling jealous. The two of them were still laughing, when Jezebel was stood behind them. She tried her hardest to not seem jealous. John looked over his shoulder, and immediately jumped to his feet.

"Zee, this is Belle." John eagerly, but gently pushed Jezebel forward; she tried to waft his hands away, and allow him to let her introduce herself at her own pace, "Belle, this is Zee."

"Well, Jezebel, it's nice to finally meet you." Zatanna happily held out her hand for Jezebel to shake; Jezebel, on the other hand, was a bit reluctant.

"Umm, it's... it's nice to meet you too." Jezebel eventually took her hand, and shook it; she and John sat back down on the couch, John being in the middle of the two ladies. Zed took a seat on the stone coffee table.

John went straight to what the problem was, "So, Zee, tell me all you know about this demon that's bothering you."

He laid back against the couch, his arms outstretched on the back of it meaning they went behind Jezebel and Zatanna; Zatanna thought for a few minutes, before telling them what they needed to know, Jezebel at the ready with a notepad and pen, "Well, I honestly don't know much. I guess I must have performed a forbidden spell, one that I planned to perform for a show."

"Can you tell us what the spell was?"

"Yeah," Zatanna looked around, "Umm, Jezebel, would you mind if I borrowed your notepad and pen?"

"Sure," Jezebel passed Zatanna what she needed, "Here,"

"Thanks," Zatanna quickly noted down on a clean piece of paper the spell that she had previously learned; once she had finished writing down the spell, she handed the notepad and pen back to Jezebel, "Now, I don't know if it was the spell or the book it came from, because I've never used the book either."   
  


"Well, we'll look into both, just to be sure," John gave a determined smile; Jezebel looked at the spell, and let out a gasp. She ran up the stairs, to - technically - her mini library. The other's gaze followed her, "Belle, want to explain why you suddenly got up like that?"

"I've seen this spell before," Jezebel shouted from the upper level of the lodge; she shifted through the books, looking for a particular one. The others followed up, and found her looking through the pile next to her chair.

"Really?" Zed asked with a hint of surprise in her voice, "Heh, who would have thought your constant reading would help in a case?"

"See, I knew it would help." Jezebel smirked, giving out a proud laugh; she found a beaten up, old leather backed book, one that had gold trimmings on it, "Ah-ha, I found it."

She flicked through the book to a specific page; the pages had a bit of information in old English on one and the spell on the other. Luckily, John had previously taught Jezebel old English, so she knew what it said, "See, I told you I found it."

"That's the spell alright," Zatanna looked at the book, confirming that the book was indeed was the one she found herself, "It's the same book as well."   
  
"Yeah, the author only had 5 published, and this is one of them. You must have found another of the copies. I don't think the author would have anything to do with the book being cursed, he's a pretty chill guy when it comes to people using his spells. Do you have the book with you? That specific copy might belong to someone that I can detect." Jezebel proudly stated; she looked at Zatanna, determination in her eyes to solve this case.

"Yeah, I do actually," Zatanna smiled, "It's in my bag."

"Wait, is that why that bag hasn't left your side, Zee?" John asked as Zatanna went through the bag on her shoulder.

"Well, yeah." She sheepishly replied; she finally found the book that she searched for and pulled it out, "Did you honestly think I would let it be out of my sight, considering the demon it has attached to it?"

"No, I guess not," John replied; Zatanna passed the book to Jezebel, who began flicking through it.

"Where did you get this book from?" Jezebel harshly asked, turning to face Zatanna and holding the book up.

"Why, what's wrong, Belle?" John asked, worry in his voice.

"Well, if I remember right; this book belonged to a powerful wizard that was actually evil, but he was turned good by an apprentice. He realised what he had done almost too late - he lost his apprentice, because the demon possessed him. The wizard had to trap the boy's soul and the demon in the book to stop it from harming others. That demon is highly dangerous..." Jezebel shook her head as she turned back to Zatanna, "You must have released it when you opened the book and read the spell."

"Well, shit." John stepped in, running a hand through his hair.

Zed nervously stepped in, "Sorry to butt in like this, but I have to go; I'll miss my train otherwise."

"Okay, I'll take Zed; I need to get supplies anyway." John said, while gently shoving Zed toward the stairs, the other two followed silently behind. Jezebel reluctantly said goodbye to Zed, before she and John went on their way. Jezebel closed the door behind them, sighing as she did.

"Well, I guess I better show you to your room." She harshly said toward Zatanna; she started walking toward the bedrooms, "C'mon."

She allowed Zatanna to settle in, before she ordered her to help with preparing the lodge for when John got back. All the while John was gone, Jezebel was actually quite cold toward Zatanna. To soften the mood a bit, she tried to make small talk with Jezebel.

"So, how long have you known John?" Zatanna asked as she and Jezebel looked through the amulets and artifacts that John had stored in the basement of the lodge.

"For about 4 years. Can we get back to the task at hand?" Jezebel didn't look up from the cabinet she looked in.

"Okay; how did you meet him?"

"On a street corner in London, if you must know." She continued to not look at Zatanna.

Growing slightly frustrated, Zatanna stopped looking in the higher parts of the cabinet, and pulled Jezebel out of the lower parts to face her, "Look, I know I messed up, but please at least don't talk like that to me. I get enough of it back home, I don't need it from any of John's friends either."

Jezebel took a while to answer back; she shamefully looked down, "Sorry... I didn't mean to sound so cold. It's honestly not because of the whole demon thing..."

"Then please, tell me what's wrong; I've felt that you've felt uncomfortable since i've arrived here. I like to know why I'm causing distress to people, especially people close to my friends."

Again, Jezebel took a while to answer, "It's honestly a stupid reason..."

"Jezebel," Zatanna placed a comforting hand on Jezebel's shoulder, "Please," 

"Well, I'm... I get anxious over new people, I wanted so bad to make a good impression for John." Jezebel replied.

"That's not it, is it?"

Sighing before she spoke, Jezebel replied with, "No."

"Jezebel, please know, if it's something you don't want John to know, I won't tell him, but as I said I like to know the reason to why I'm causing distress."

"Well, I'm actually jealous of you and John being in a relationship in the past... I guess I think there's something still there."

"Wait, are you and John together?" 

"No, that's what makes it stupid." Jezebel continued to look down to the ground; she now rubbed her right arm, "You promise you won't tell him?"

"Promise," Zatanna gave a small smile as she nodded.

"Well, I like him..."

"Really?" Zatanna gave an excited reply, "That's adorable!"

"Maybe to you, but I can't help but think that he could never love someone like me... Someone so... so fucked up."

"Jezebel, John is not like that." After a quick thought, Zatanna smiled, "And I am pretty sure he has similar feelings for you."

Quickly looking up, Jezebel asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, don't take it as a definite that he likes you that way... But, he couldn't stop talking about you, when I met up with him a year back. I think you were away at the time." Zatanna smiled widely as she saw the blush creep onto Jezebel's face

"R-really?"

"Yup," Zatanna giggled.

Jezebel cleared her throat before talking, "Maybe we should work on finding these amulets?"

"Oh, about that... I already kind of defeated the demon myself..." She gave another sheepish smile.

"Wow, how?"

"I found a spell at the back of the book that helped."

"That's awesome; I guess you really are the best magician that John knows." Jezebel laughed.

"He actually said that? John Constantine actually said I was the best magician that he knows?" Zatanna gave a half shocked/ half joking tone.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe he said that myself." Jezebel continued to laugh; Zatanna joined in. The two of them get to know each other, ending up having a laugh. About a few hours later, Zatanna ended up telling Jezebel, "You know, John has actually been the subject for one or two of my spells..."

"Really, which ones?"

Laughing as she explained, Zatanna said, "I turned him into a rabbit once or twice."

Jezebel started laughing, "Really; complete with the fluffy tail?"

"Complete with the fluffy tail." Zatanna continued to laugh with her.

"You have to teach me that spell... Just in case.."

"Of course, you just basically say 'turn into a rabbit' backwards, adding the subject's name at the beginning. I've also done it to Batman before."

"Ha, I bet he looked adorable!"

"Oh, he did,"

"Okay, so I would say 'John Constantine turn into a rabbit' backwards?" Jezebel asked

"Yeah, but I would wait until he comes back."

"That might be a good idea." Jezebel anxiously asked, "Mind teaching me a few other tricks, while we wait?"

"Sure!" Zatanna excitedly said; not long later, the door to the lodge opened and John entered with a few bags; he took out a cigarette from his trench coat, lighting it.

"Now, Jezzy!" Zatanna giggled

"NHOJ ENITNATSNOC NRUT OTNI A TIBBAR!" Jezebel quickly said the spell; before John-rabbit could hit the ground, she quickly caught him. She snuggled him close, so he couldn't scamper away, "How was that for my first try, Zee?"

Zatanna giggled, "Brilliant!"

"Yay!" Jezebel also giggled; John still had the cigarette in the corner of his mouth, and his tie still on.

"You girls think this fucking funny, don't yer? I'll tell you, it's not from my end, jus' so yer both know." An unimpressed bunny John folded his arms; he raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not, John" Jezebel gave a Sarcastic smirk; John twitches his tail and whiskers, "But, you do look adorable! Just look at that wuffy, wittle tail!" 

Zatanna smirked; Jezebel still snuggled closer to him, " I agree, maybe we should make it a permanent change."

John still looked unimpressed, "Still not fuckin' funny."

"Naw, but John..." The girls harmonised together, giving puppy-dog faces to him.

"No!" He almost shouted, with a slight look of horror.

"Aw," the girls giggled, while trying to look sad.

"I thought we had a demon to take care of?" John interrupted, "Change me back so we can get that sorted?"

"Yeah about that..." Zatanna started, with a sheepish grin.

"What now?!" John asked with a slight annoyance in his voice.

"Well, she already... kind of... sorted it out herself." Jezebel explained.

"So, I just went out for those supplies for no reason?"

"Well, not no reason, no..." Zatanna stated, "Me and Jezebel got to have some girl time,"

"Clearly," John hinted at his new form, "Please, just change me back."

"Did I just hear that right, Jezzy?" Zatanna laughed

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that the word 'please' just came out of the John Constantine's mouth." Jezebel laughed along with her; again, John gave an unimpressed look to both girls.

"Real funny," John flicked his cigarette to the floor, meaning Jezebel had to stomp it out, "Now would be good..."

"Fine," Both girls smirked; due to Jezebel not long learning the spells, she didn't want to risk getting it wrong, so Zatanna was the one to turn John back to normal.

Brushing himself off, John said, "Thank you."   


	30. Mornings at The Lodge

Jezebel made her way through the busy town centre, hoping to get through without having to stop for very long. Not only because she hated crowds, but also because she had a case to solve, and John had told her to be at a specific place at a specific time. Under her arm, she held onto a few artifacts that she and John required for their latest case; they were boxed up, so she wouldn't end up losing them. Due to her almost dropping her belongings (i.e. the artifacts), Jezebel decided it would be a good idea to stop off to the side of the town centre to organise herself a bit better. It took her a couple of minutes, but by the time she finished she was ready to go without dropping everything.

Once she looked down at her phone, Jezebel realised she was running a little behind. She began running through the crowd; that was when she ended up bumping into someone, who gave a more masculine (but still feminine) 'ooff'. Picking up the box with the artifacts in, Jezebel began apologising to the person she bumped into. She looked up to see a face that was actually familiar, or least she thought so.

"Blaze?" Jezebel asked, tilting her head slightly to try to get a better look at the person she thought was her old high school friend, Bethany Collins - or as she preferred to be called Blaze; she and Bethany helped each other up.

"Wait, Jezzy? Jezzy Connelly?" Bethany gave the same surprise tone as Jezebel; she laughed as she still overtowered Jezebel, "It's been a while."

"Yeah, you could say that..." Jezebel gave a sad smile before looking down to the ground.

"Not one of the teachers blame you for leaving, you know, Jezzy, and more importantly, me." Bethany claimed, placing a gentle hand on Jezebel's shoulder.

"Heh, well, I bet the other students do, especially Sammy Jo and Melissa. They hated me most, so I can see them being the more happier people that I left."

"C'mon, Jezzy, you look like you're doing a lot better than what they are." Bethany smiled, gesturing to Jezebel.

"Uh, thanks." Jezebel blushed slightly, with a small smile; she realised that she was still running late, "Not that I don't want to catch, Beth, but I'm running a bit late for something... Umm, here, this is my number."

Jezebel wrote down on a spare piece of paper the number for the lodge, "This is the number for the place where I'm staying. It's a shared number so just ask for me, and we can meet up sometime?"

"That sounds like a good idea to me." Bethany took the small piece of paper and tucked it into her pocket; before she and Jezebel went off in separate directions, she hugged Jezebel, who was say the least a bit surprise, and smiled, "It was nice to see you again, Jezzy. I missed you."

"It was nice to see you again too, Beth." Jezebel smiled back, before she ran off to meet John for the case.

A few days later, Jezebel got a call from Bethany asking if she wanted to meet up for a coffee and chat; Jezebel agreed, having a bit of time for a break. She tied her messy hair back up into a much neater ponytail, before grabbing her coat from the back of the couch.

"Belle, where are you going?" John asked from the kitchen.

"Just going to meet an old friend. I'll be back in a couple of hours." Jezebel shouted back

"Would ya mind if I came to meet you later?" John asked coming out of the kitchen to see Jezebel packing a few essentials into her pockets such as money and her phone.

"Sure, I'll be at Starbucks, when you decide to join us." Jezebel smiled, before exiting the lodge.

A couple of bus rides later, Jezebel arrived at the coffee shop that Bethany had told her to meet her at; as she strolled a bit closer to the shop, she could see that Bethany was sat at a seat by the window. She waved when Bethany waved to her. She entered the shop, purchasing a hot chocolate before sitting down at the table that her friend sat at.

Jezebel was the first to start a conversation, "So, how's life treating you, did you ever make it through college like you wanted?"

"Yeah! I loved it!" Bethany sounded almost over excited, and looked as if she would leap out of her chair, "I've been asked to join the British Olympic gymnastics team."   
  
"Really?" Jezebel brightly smiled, "That's great; at least someone's achieving their life-long dream... So, tell me the details of how you made it through college?"

"Well, it wasn't easy, I'll tell you that. There were many talented people on the team, but I think the extra training sessions with my coach helped a lot."

"I bet you're the best on your team." Jezebel smiled, before taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"That's what the coach said..." Bethany slightly smiled

"Yeah? You don't seem so sure, there?"

Bethany sighed, "Well, sometimes I feel someone better deserves it. Someone who actually worked for it."

"Now, Beth; I may not have seen you for a long while, but I know for sure that you, of all people, have worked exceptionally well for this, and that you deserve to get this offer." Jezebel sternly said, causing Bethany to look her in the eye, "You were amazing, and I bet you still are, if not better."

"Thanks, Jezzy,"

"So, how did they find you?"

"There was a whole tournament for college gymnastic teams to show off their stuff, and the coach picked me for most of the events. I guess they must have seen me performing and took an interest."

"Wow,"

"I know right," The excitement in Bethany's voice had come back; she looked down at the newspaper that she had bought not long before Jezebel had arrived, and she flicked it to the fourth page, pointing to one of the pictures, "So, wanna tell me who he is with you?"

"You mean John?" Jezebel looked down to see a picture of her and John on a case that they successfully solved a few months back; Bethany nodded with a grin, "He's my partner."

"Yeah?"

"...Yeah." Jezebel looked down to her lap, "So, how long are you in Atlanta for?"

"Well, I'm on a tour with the team, but this is like a break for a few weeks. It's a nice place, gonna have to come back again, especially now since I know you live here. Speaking of living places, where do you live? I know you said you shared a place... Wait, you share a place with him don't you?" Bethany pointed to John's picture, which was much like an action shot for him; when she saw Jezebel blush slightly, Bethany took that as a yes, "OMG! You have to tell me; what's it like? Do you like him? Does he like you? Are you two together yet?"

"Woah, woah, Beth. Slow down. No, me and John aren't together."

"Yet."

"I guess, I do, sorta, like him... But, I don't think he likes me the same way!"

"I'm sure I can be the judge of that when I meet him." Bethany gave a smug look, before taking a couple of sips of her coffee, "So, tell me what's he like?"

"John? He's... He's looked out for me that's for sure. He always knows when to cheer me up, and it's a good thing he's a bit of a goofball at times, otherwise I think we'd both be too serious." As she spoke, Jezebel wore a bright smile, and it didn't take long for Bethany to notice, catching the contagious smile, "He's amazing at what he does, even if he doesn't think so himself. He's a great guy, even if he doesn't let on that he is."

"Is he good looking?" Bethany asked with a wide grin and a raised eyebrow.

"Beth!" Jezebel blushed harder

"Just asking.... Is he?"

"...Yeah, he's very good looking." Jezebel smiled, while still blushing like crazy.

"Naw," Bethany smirked, "Jezzy, I do believe this is the 2nd crush that I've seen you have."

"Can we not mention him." Jezebel's frown disappeared.

"Of course we won't." Bethany nodded with understanding; she looked up and for the first time that day, she got a proper look at Jezebel, "You know, other than looking overly exhausted, Jezzy, you actually grew up to be really beautiful. I'm jealous."

To let Jezebel know she was joking, Bethany added a smile at the end; she blushed at that comment, "Uh, thanks, Beth."

"Wanna tell me why you look so tired?"

"A number of reasons... Ones that I'd rather not explain.." Jezebel gave a small laugh.

"Fair enough; so how did mornings start out when you first stayed with this John fella?"

"Well, I'll tell you this, for the first few weeks I was actually trying to find my own place, while in between staying at an apartment and staying at John's. I did actually have a place of my own, but I sold it off due to being too scared of living alone. I didn't see the point in keeping it to be honest. Thinking about it, most mornings I would wake up there. Actually quite cheery at first. I'd come out of my room, and walk passed the boys..." Jezebel began to explain.

"The boys?" Bethany interrupted

"John, and his best friend, Chas. He's often there too."

"Oh, alright. Carry on."

"As I was saying, I would often wake up and walk passed the boys standing, or leaning in most cases, against the breakfast bar. I'd actually chime 'morning boys,' as I walked passed the kitchen, to which Chas would most often reply with, 'morning miss Belle,', which I find really sweet." Jezebel smiled, "Though he told me not to tell anyone, Chas told me that John's gaze would follow after me while he had a small smile on his face."

"Naw, he sounds adorable."

"Heh," Jezebel smirked at her friend's comment, before continuing, "They thought I didn't hear, but most likely after I passed, Chas would turn to John, saying something like 'John, why am I never surprised she's here?' To which, John would sound a bit offended with, after a short while, 'Wha's that supposed to mean?'."

The girls giggled; Bethany calmed down before continuing their conversation, "So, what's it like now?"

"Well, honestly it depends."

"On what?" 

"The night before really." Jezebel gave an awkward smile, before letting out a small laugh; Bethany gave her a look to carry on, "There are some nights that I sleep pretty well, and there are some where I don't sleep at all. I get told this a lot, but I'm apparently a grump in the mornings, especially before my morning drink, which is usually a cup of tea or - more often than not - an energy drink. Mostly cause i'm not keen on coffee, and just so you know, Chas is usually the one to make it, since John's a lazy ass in the morning. The fact that I wake up grumpy is down to getting hardly any sleep and that's for multiple reasons. John - who doesn't shave until fully awake, by the way - is usually the one to wake me, though there's times I am awake when he comes in because I didn't sleep at all, which sometimes leads me to sleeping in during the day until really late."

"Wow." Bethany smiled, "So, what happens when John wakes you?"

"He gets a pillow thrown at him, gets told to fuck off or both. He also sometimes finds me at the opposite end of the bed, hanging off it." Jezebel smirked, before sipping her drink, making Bethany laugh, "That's when he opens the curtains, and because my eyes are very sensitive in the morning, the light hurts them, so I hiss at him before going under the covers and curling up in a ball."

"Heh. You two must be really comfortable around each other?" Bethany smiled before she took a few sips of her own drink.

"You could say that... I do have the odd nightmare - usually about my family's murder..." Jezebel sadly looked into her cup, which was almost empty.

"Jezzy, you alright?" Bethany saw the sadness in Jezebel's eyes.

"Yeah, anyway, the nightmare's usually make me too scared to sleep alone afterwards. So, I usually sneak into John's room and sleep in his bed."

"And he doesn't mind?"

"Not usually, but I do sometimes scare the living crap out of him when I do, since I'm quiet. There is the odd time that I'll announce myself. But, it's usually so late when I wake from the nightmares, so I just quietly sneak into the bed, thinking he's asleep. There are times he's awake, but he either has his eyes closed or back to the door, making me think he is."

"So, you usually sleep in the same bed, together?" Bethany's face began to have a smirk grow on it, giving Jezebel the idea that she was thinking things happened.

"Nothing happened, and we slept at separate ends." Jezebel interrupted her friend's thoughts.

"Naw," Bethany gave a playful pout, and then smiled, "So, you just climb in, or does he do something to help you get back to sleep?"

"Well, there's times he would hug me, and there's times he would play with my hair, since that is definitely a way to make me fall asleep." Jezebel smiled as she blushed slightly.

"Aw, that sounds adorable. Does he do anything else?"

"Well, a couple; like he sings sometimes if he's in the mood, and he talks to help as well."

"Does it work?"

"Yeah, most times. His voice is actually nice to listen to."

"Aw," Bethany squished her cheeks together with her hands, smiling widely, making Jezebel blush slightly at the fact that her friend was probably wondering why they do those things if they're not together; Bethany stopped and looked at Jezebel, "So, what happens if he brings home a lady friend?"

"What?!" Jezebel was put back by the question, causing her eyebrows to knit together.

"Well, a guy that good looking wouldn't go out and not come back with someone, and clearly you like him, so something's bound to happen."

"Okay, there are times he would bring home a female guest, but because it is late when they arrive home from the bar, Chas, Zed and I usually only see them when they come out in the morning." Jezebel looked incredibly jealous of those girls, and it was quite obvious to Bethany, who didn't want to say anything; she also realised that Jezebel seemed to brighten up slightly on her next topic of conversation, "The girls he brings home are usually rude to me, and he notices this, so chances are we don't see them again."

"Nice to know he looks out for you." Bethany smiled sweetly.

"Yeah, he does. A lot more than I usually realise." Jezebel returned that sweet smile; just as Jezebel finished her sentence they were approached by a rather worn out John.

As John joined them, Bethany smiled as she stated, leaning on her arm onto the table, "So, this is the famous John Constantine."

Jezebel shot her friend a glance, and John raised an eyebrow, "You know me?"

"Of course, I've seen you in the paper... and Jezzy talked a bit about you." Bethany smirked, pushing the paper - saved on the page she saw John and Jezebel - toward John; she gained a death glare from Jezebel, who blushed.

"You must be Belle's friend..." John waited for Bethany to reply with her name.

"Beth." Bethany smiled, lifting her head slightly.

"Nice to meet you, Beth." John turned to Jezebel, "I'm just gonna get a coffee, be right back."

As John went off to the counter to order his drink, Bethany turned to Jezebel with a wide smile and excitement, "You weren't wrong about him being good looking; he's even better in real life."

"Yeah? Just don't tell him, his ego is big enough." Jezebel smirked, causing Bethany to laugh; a couple of minutes later and John returned with his coffee in hand.

"So, what were you ladies talking about, before I arrived?" John sat in the seat next to Jezebel.

"Oh, just catching up, you know." Jezebel smiled innocently.

"Oh?" John took a sip of his coffee, before speaking.

"Yeah, like what we've been doing since high school and stuff like that." Bethany stepped in.

"Okay then." John smiled slightly and raised his eyebrows. 


	31. Four Way Harmony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on the Season 2, episode 1 (Scary-Oke) of Gravity Falls

John and Jezebel had previously discussed taking a break from their hectic lives to give them a bit of freedom from stress; they planned to go on a holiday of sorts to a little town in Oregon called Salem, and they were going to go with Dusk and Edward, since they had planned for a break from Gotham as well. Due to her uneasiness in any new hotels that she stayed in, Jezebel and John went ahead of their scheduled date to Salem by a day, to help Jezebel settle into the hotel that they planned to stay in. The reason behind her being uneasy at any new hotel was that she got trapped in a room at a hotel she had never stayed in before, and a very evil ghost was haunting that room. It caused her to hurt herself in many ways, and it gave her nightmares of what she would do due to Jez to her friends and family. It terrified her. Although her job (and John's) consisted of them travelling a lot, and staying at hotels, they would sometimes stay at hotels that they had already visited.

John made it one of his goals to make sure Jezebel was comfortable in where they stayed, so before arriving at the hotel, he had done his research on it. He kept what it was called and the features it had a secret from Jezebel, until they arrived in front of the hotel. They approached a very classy looking hotel, one that looked to be expensive. Upon entering the lobby of the hotel, they could see that it was decorated with gold and red. It not only looked calm and comfortable, it also looked high class.

As they walked up to the counter, Jezebel looked around in awe as she asked John, "Wow; John how did you afford this place?"

"I have ways. I also have contacts that can help with those sort of things." He proudly smirked; his hair was slicked back, and it didn't take long for Jezebel to notice.

"So, what's with the slicked back hairstyle?" She asked with a smirk, raising an eyebrow.

"It's all part of the act, love; it's all part of the act." He smirked back; he left her by the lobby fireplace, as he went to check into their rooms. He approached the gentleman at the counter, asking in a high class accent - receiving a smirk and glance from Jezebel -, "Mr Harry Heart."

The desk attendant gave a quick look over his computer screen, and smiled when he found what he was looking for, "Ah, yes, Mr Heart; a double suite?"

"That's the one." John replied nodding.

"Here you go, sir." The attendant handed over the keys to John's room; the bellhop walked over to him.

"Can I take your bags, sir?" The bellhop asked, hinting at the dufflebag and 'manpurse' (as Jezebel and Zed called it) by John's feet.

"No, thank you. I'm sure I can handle it." John smiled, giving the bellhop a small nod, before he walked back over to Jezebel, "Shall we?"

"We shall, Mr Heart." She smiled - mocking his high class accent-; she picked her bags back up, and linked arms with him, as they walked to their room.

Upon entering the main part of the room, Jezebel could see that the living area of the room had a wide screen TV, and it looked as if it came with a DVD player. It also had two en-suite rooms, which also had two bathrooms. It was all beautifully decorated.

"Wow, the rooms are even better." Jezebel took a peek into both bedrooms, "So, which one are you gonna chose?"

"Ladies, first."

"Why thank you." Jezebel took a mock bow, before taking a proper look into both rooms; as she did this, John decorated the room with protection symbols, using a spell to cover them up.

Not long later, she came back out, and pointed to the room that had a view from the front of the hotel, "I'll have this one."

"Fair enough," John nodded as he threw his bag down on the floor and began to route through it, "So, when are Dusk and Edward joining us?"

"Tomorrow, hopefully." Jezebel called from in her room; she was putting belongings such as a book and toothbrush onto the bedside table, while most of her belongings stayed in the two bags that she had brought, which she did in case the two of them needed to make a quick getaway at any point.

"Good enough for me." John strolled into the room Jezebel was in and sat on the end of the bed, flipping off his shoes, "You know, you didn't need to bring your own books; this place has a massive library."

"Really?" Jezebel quickly turned around, a huge excited grin on her face, "Why didn't you say earlier?!"

"I thought I just did." John asked, lying back onto the bed; he put his hands behind his head, intending on taking a nap.

"C'mon, we're going there!" Jezebel exclaimed with excitement, as she tugged John's feet, ending up having him fall off the bed; she yanked him out their room door, and down to where the library was.

As Jezebel ran excitedly around the small section of the huge library that they were in, looking for a few books to borrow over their stay, John sat waiting at one of the tables that were there for visitors to sit at, while they read. His gaze watched, with a small smile on his face, at Jezebel, while his right hand reached into the pocket of his trench coat. He pulled out a deck of cards and began shuffling them. He thought to practice a bit of magic, while he waited for his partner.

He was flicking through the deck, when Jezebel stopped and noticed what he was doing. With a pile of books as tall as herself, she stood next to John. She watched in wonder at how he quickly separated the deck and shuffled them together again with ease.

He looked up at her, and with a smirk, he said, "You alright there?"

"Do you actually know how to play card games?" Jezebel asked, setting the pile of books down next to his seat; she cocked her head slightly to the side, in curiosity.

"Gambling is one of the ways I earn a living, love." John proudly smirked, as he still shuffled the deck out of boredom.

"Umm, I've never actually played a card game before." She looked down to her feet in slight shame.

"Wanna learn?" He looked up at her with a sweet smile, showing her the fanned out deck.

"Really?"

"Sure, be great to pass my knowledge of how to play properly to someone." He smirked proudly, slightly lifting his head to show exactly how proud he was of himself.

"Okay," She sat in the seat next to him, so that they wouldn't be distracting anyone else by them; John began teaching her the basics of any card game, and then went into more detail on how she could trick her way into winning the game. After a quick lesson, which she got in a couple of goes, John suggested that she test what she knew in an actual game.

She agreed to the game, so he began dealing out the cards; he set aside the spare ones, that they wouldn't be playing with, and the game began.

He wanted to start her off with an easy game, considering she had only just learnt how to play, so they played Go Fish. It didn't take long for the game of Go Fish to end, having Jezebel win. As she showed her cards, she questioned with a genuine confused look, "So, does this mean I win?" 

John looked at her set of cards in disbelief, and quickly shook his head, stating with a rather glum look, "1 out of 2. We're playing another two rounds, before deciding the winner."

Jezebel giggled, taking the tone he took as a fact that she won and he didn't; it took most of the evening, but due to knowing more tricks for card games, John ended up winning the last two rounds. They eventually went back to their hotel room, splitting the pile of books between them to carry up to there, and get some sleep, so that they were ready for meeting Dusk and Edward in the morning.

The next morning, John and Jezebel went to meet Dusk and Edward at the train station that was in the town centre of Salem; John was rather impatient about waiting for them, since he just about got on with Dusk and hardly got on with Edward, and kept claiming why he couldn't be looking around the town, while she waited for them. Jezebel would often reply with that he was a good friend and that he actually liked getting to know Dusk (and to an extent Edward), with a cheeky grin. This caused a laugh to come up in his throat.

"Sure, if you say so." John sarcastically replied, leaning against the wall of the station, folding his arms.

Meanwhile, on the train coming from Gotham, Dusk and Edward were sat on opposite seats - facing each other. Most of the time, he was just mumbling to himself about work and having to spend part of his vacation with John. This was because, like John didn't like him much, Edward didn't like John. In fact, he practically hated him. Edward happened to get a little too loud, causing Dusk to hear him. She tried to calm him down and stop him from disturbing any of the other passengers, saying it won't be as bad as he thinks it will, but he actually led to her getting upset.

Seeing Dusk upset, due to him being a bit of a dick, he gave a worried look before standing and sitting next to her. He gave her an apologetic hug, while actually apologising, "I am so sorry to have upset you, Dusk, my dear... Perhaps we can work up a deal: I promise I'll try to get along with Constantine, if you are willing to give something in return."

"Like what?" She asked with a sniffle; Edward wiped the tears from her cheeks, as he smiled at her.

"Like, maybe," Part way through his sentence, Edward gained a grin on his face, as he leaned into tell Dusk of his request, "Maybe, wear less clothing when you come to bed?"

Upon hearing what his request was, Dusk blushed like crazy; what also made her blush was the fact she noticed the man sitting on the seat on the opposite side of the train, across from them, looked up toward the two of them, hinting that he too heard Edward's request.

"Edward, you ass; why would you do that..." Still blushing hard, Dusk cuddled more into Edward's chest; he chuckled.

"That still doesn't answer my request," He smirked

After a very short break of silence, Dusk quickly replied with, "I'll think on it, Ed."

Not 5 minutes later, Dusk realised that their stop was approaching and upon the train pulling into the station, she spotted John and Jezebel waiting. She waved as they passed them, hoping they would see her. Luckily, Jezebel spotted her and excitedly waved back as she slowly approached to where the train was docking. She and Edward gathered their luggage, before making their way toward the train's exit closest to where Jezebel was now stood.   
  
Once leaving the train, the girls ran up to each other and hugged; Edward slowly approached as the two of them performed their usual greeting: high fiving each other, and then going to do a low-high five. Edward shook his head in disapproval, standing next to Dusk.

"I never get why the two of you greet each other like that." Edward folded his arms; his duffle bag still over his shoulder.   
  
"It makes greeting each other more fun, than it usually would be?" Jezebel answered with a sarcastic smile; Dusk looked as if she was struggling to juggle all 4 of her bags at once, so Jezebel offered to take one off her hands, "Want some help there?"

"Uh, sure, could use it actually." She gave an awkward smile as she passed one of the bigger bags to Jezebel, as the three of them walked toward John, "Thanks, Jezzy."

John strolled toward the three of them, getting out his pack of cigarettes and his lighter; he walked behind the two girls, as Edward did, since they were busy chatting away. John took out a cigarette and lit it, then placing it between his lips. While Jezebel and Dusk did catch up, excitedly talking over what they had been up to lately, John and Edward happened to glare at each other with dislike for one another. Jezebel caught on to this and looked over her shoulder at them, giving both them a glare to cut it out, which they instantly did. She continued to chat with her friend.   
  
"Dusk, how are you able to cope with how moody he is?" Jezebel asked hinting at Edward as she turned to face Dusk again.

"Well, I like to think his good qualities outweigh his bad ones." Dusk replied, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, like what?"

"His sense of humour, his intelligence, his looks," Dusk smiled, and then she leaned closer to her friend, saying a bit quieter, " and it's just a bonus he has a great ass,"

The girls both giggle at her comment; once their laughter had calmed down, Jezebel commented, "You know you two actually make a cute couple. It'd be adorable if you two did get together."

"Glad you think that, because we actually did get together." Dusk blushed a slight bit, as she slowed down with what she had just said out loud, finding it a bit weird considering he was her first proper relationship.

"What?!" Jezebel stopped the two of them in their tracks; excitement was clearly on her face, "How could you not tell me sooner?"

"Well, I wanted to make sure he was ready, and I was. I also wanted to make sure you accepted him and me as a couple." Dusk shyly responded.

"Wait, why would you want to know if accept the two of you as a couple; it's your life, Dusk, you can date whoever you want." Jezebel placed a gentle hand on Dusk's shoulder, "Even though you do have it, you don't need my acceptance to who you date or whatever else you think needs my approval."

"Thanks, Jezebel." Dusk's smile brightened slightly; she thought for a quick few seconds, which happened to be when John decided to pass them, a smirk growing on her face, "You know you and John make an adorable couple, just as much as Edward and I. I wouldn't be surprised if either of you liked one another and I would be able to see why."

As she said this, John stopped in front of them, hearing what Dusk had just said; like Jezebel, he turned a deep shade of red. He shook his head and carried on, his head down more and moving at a much quicker pace. Dusk noticed this and laughed to herself. John slowed his pace once outside the train station, causing Edward to catch up. He walked beside him, having to stop so Edward could catch up.

"So, I heard you and Dusk are together?" John asked curiously

"What's it to you!" Edward replied aggressively

"Whoa, mate; I was just asking a simple question." John replied, holding his hands up in defense, "Why so touchy on the subject?"

"I'm not." He replied bluntly.

"Ashamed to be with her or is it the other way round?"

"What?! How dare you suggest such a thing!" Edward stopped John in his path, standing directly in front of him; anger was clearly the expression on his face, "I find it anger inducing and annoying how most people would often hurt and/ or despise people like myself cause I, Edward Nygma, am better than everyone else. It's like people who are different, even the slightest, always get punished for being talented. She is always the one to be hurt, always the one to be in pain, and what for? Nothing! For no reason she gets hurt. I need to protect her. She needs me. So, why would I be ashamed to be with her?"

"Ed, I was only saying that is what it sounded like."

"You don't have the privilege to call me by my first name, let alone my nickname." Edward was getting more angrier, and began shoving John.   
  
"Hey, there's no need for that, mate." John managed to grip onto Edward's arm, to stop him from shoving.

"I. Am. Not. Your. Mate." Edward went to punch John, who in turn dodged the punch and swung one back toward Edward; this knocked him out, just as Jezebel and Dusk were joining them by the front of the station entrance.

"John, why did you do that?!" Dusk ran to Edward's side to check if he was alright, only to find he was just unconscious with little injuries other than a bruise forming on his cheek.

"He went to swing at me. Had to defend myself someway, didn't I?" John frowned, flicking his cigarette to the ground.

"Okay, smartass; how are we gonna get him to the hotel?" Jezebel folded her arms, giving him a stern look. 

"Simple." John looked toward her, "We get a taxi."

"And then what? Carry him up the 2 flight of stairs? The elevator at the hotel wasn't working last time I checked."

"Well, we could always pay a member of staff to do that for us." He shrugged; the girls rolled their eyes. John walked up to one of the parked taxis by the side of the road; he leaned into the window on the passenger's side, "Hey, mate; you free?"

"Yeah, where you going to?" The taxi driver hinted for the four of them to get in as John gave him the address of the hotel; Jezebel helped Dusk get Edward into the cab, while John put the baggage into the trunk of the car, before they got in themselves. As John got into the front of the taxi, the driver asked as he pointed to Edward, "Is he alright?"

"Yeah, just got himself into a little fight." John gave a smug look to himself; Jezebel gave him a light slap to the back of his head, "Ow."

"Don't lie, yer asshole."

"I'm not; he did, and why would you do that?"

"You deserve it." Dusk exclaimed, smirking to herself; when they got to the hotel, John was now the one to carry Edward up to their rooms, while the girls split the baggage between themselves. John had one of the member of staff help him carry Edward up to the rooms, as he got the room key for Dusk and Edward.

Once Edward was laid on the couch in his and Dusk's double room, Dusk gave the boy that helped them a $10 tip for the help, before he went on his way. John and Jezebel had already gone back to their own rooms next door, when Dusk and Edward's baggage were placed in their room. She flopped herself down on the couch next to the still-unconscious Edward. It didn't take long for Edward to wake, after they had settled, and he was in such a pissed off mood. Dusk made an attempt to cheer him up, which happened via him making her laugh when he made a joke fit to both his and her sense of humour. Once their laughter had died down, they spent a bit of time snuggling up to each other on the one bed in the room that was twice the size of a normal one. Edward and Dusk decided to sleep on the floor, considering the bed felt a bit weird to them, and deciding to make use of the fireplace in the living area of the room.

Around 5:00PM, Jezebel knocked on the door of Dusk's room, asking if they were ready to go get something to eat. Dusk and Edward agreed to go with her and John; they went to the restaurant set in the hotel. It was rather fancy, so Dusk had to wear her waistcoat instead of her hoodie. It was also themed to the 1950's. Since the waiter was taking his time in coming to their table to take their orders, the four of them got bored and headed back to John and Jezebel's room. This was where they ordered take-out. They also decided to watch a few movies (most of them being of the horror genre chosen by Jezebel and Dusk).

After watching the Human Centipede trilogy (as chosen by horror fan Jezebel), Dusk made the comment, "I feel more sorry for the people in the middle; I mean imagine the first one having a shit."

"Yeah, if you think that's bad, imagine if one of them needs to throw up." Jezebel added, with a small laugh; Edward made a throwing up gesture.

John became slightly grossed out that the girls managed to make a film series even more creepier than it already was; this lead him to walking to his room, stating, "Well, I'm done. Goodnight, ladies."   
  


Once John was out of the room, Edward asked, "Can we watch something that doesn't involve stitching people to each other?"

"What do you suggest?" Dusk asked, turning the top half of her body to face Edward, who had his arm around her shoulders.

"Silence of the lambs!" Jezebel excitedly butted in.

"NO!" Edward shouted, and then with a much calmer tone, he replied with, "How about a documentary on machinery?"

"Well, on that note, I think I shall go to bed myself." Jezebel quickly got up onto her feet, waving goodnight.

"Hey, come on, I had to sit through whatever you just made us watch; now it's your turn." Edward stated

"And have to be a single lady putting up with you trying it on with Dusk? No, thanks. If you guys need me, I'll be in that room." Jezebel pointed to her room, as she walked toward it; thanks to Jezebel's comment, Dusk ended up blushing slightly. During the documentary, Edward did actually make many attempts to get Dusk's attention, much like a cat would, by nudging up against her and pressing his head against her right shoulder - the one that he was closest to-.

"Come on, my dear, how can you resist me?" Edward goes to kiss Dusk with a smirk on his face, only for her to push him away; she feeling a slight bit uncomfortable, "Now, now; may I remind you of the deal we made back on the train?"

"Fine, Edward, but only snuggling. I don't want to make Jezebel or John feel uncomfortable."

"That is perfectly fine with me." Edward smirked as she cuddled closer to him; due to the warm temperature of the room around midnight, Edward took off the tank shirt he had on, and Dusk decided to take off her hoodie revealing that she had a night vest on underneath. Edward began kissing Dusk's neck.

Due to him wanting a drink, John walked out of his room intending on doing this; he soon abandoned his task and went straight back to his room. He obviously thought the two of them were going to take it further, not at all knowing of Dusk's insecurities in that area. The two of them spent the night snuggled on the couch in Jezebel and John's room.

The next morning, the four of them thought it would be good to get out of the town and away from the people, so they went to the cabin that was on the outside of town; Jezebel had heard that there was quite a history behind it, so thought it would be perfect for them to visit. Dusk and John agreed to the idea, while Edward just grumbled to himself. Once arriving, John and Jezebel went to check the basement - Jezebel to check the legend of the place and John to see if there was any good stuff worth stealing, or as he put it 'borrowing'. Dusk and Edward checked the small library in the cabin.

Edward picked up a random book off the shelf, while Dusk took to the kitchen to make some snacks for the four of them. He began to read through it, when he came upon what he thought was an interesting part at first. He read, what was actually a spell, out loud, before throwing the book into the fireplace out of disgust. John and Jezebel joined Dusk and Edward back upstairs, only for John to look out the window to see a horde of demon like creatures, shuffling around the forest.

"What?!" John exclaimed, walking up to the window to close the curtains, "Jezebel and I were only down there for about an hour, how?!"

"Don't look at me, I was in the kitchen making snacks with the food we brought." Dusk defensively stepped in.

"And you know where I was." Jezebel answered

"So, that leaves.." John turned to Edward, "What were you doing before they appeared?"

"Reading, if you must know." Edward answered aggressively at the fact that he was being blamed.

"What were you reading?"

"That." Edward pointed to the now-burnt-to-a-crisp book in the fireplace, "It's not as good as it looks, you know."

John went over to fireplace to pick up the book. It practically fell apart in his hands; he sighed before using a spell to fix it, to which Jezebel replied with, "You've got to teach me that when we have the time."

"Will do, love." He chuckled, looking through the book; though, upon finding the spell he thought would have called upon the demon creatures, John turned to Edward, "Is this what you were reading before they appeared?"

"Yeah, so what?" Edward answered with a bored tone

"'So what'? 'So What' he says." John was clearly angered, as the volume of his voice was beginning to get louder, "They are one of the toughest demons to get rid of, not even I know how. That's so fucking what!"

"Well, how was I supposed to know that?" Edward answered back with his voice being just as loud.

"Yer didn't have to fucking know. Who reads stuff like that out loud, anyway!!!" John made a gesture with his hands to emphasise what he was saying.

"I thought it would make it more interesting. Apparently not."

While the two men were arguing loudly, Dusk looked out the window to see the demon horde crowding the cabin they were in, due to them hearing John and Edward arguing. She had a small panic attack, to which Jezebel noticed and managed to calm her down, before asking, "What's the matter?"

"Look outside." She answered with a horrified look; Jezebel looked and soon gained the same expression, which changed to confusion when she saw Dusk go into her backpack.

"What are you doing?" Jezebel asked, only for her question to be answered when Dusk pulled out a bullhorn, before quietly saying sorry to herself - toward the lads and Jezebel - and setting it off. It quickly shut the boys up and got their attention.

"Boys, have you looked outside? Your little domestic kinda attracted the demons!" Dusk announced, as she pointed outside; John and Edward looked, only for Edward to give a scared shitless look.

"Shit," John said, giving a glum look.

"What do we do now?" Jezebel asked as she gave John a worried look; John went into thought for a quick few minutes.

"I saw that the cabin has a theatre not far from here. They look pretty slow. If you guys go the back way, you can get there before me. We're gonna trap them in the stage room, or at least I'll do the main part of that. You guys get a head start, and I'll meet you there. Start by shutting and locking the inner doors, except two: the entrance to the stage room, and an exit for me." John answered with his plan; Jezebel's face gained a worried look, to which John managed to spot, so he replied with a soft tone, "And Belle, don't worry about me. I'm pretty sure I can outrun those buggers."

"Well, if you're sure." Jezebel answered with an unsure, but reassured tone; she knew John could be quite fast when he wanted to be.

"So, we all know the plan?" John asked, once he had ran through the proper plan a couple of times to make sure everyone got it; the other three nodded, "Right, you three make your way toward the back door, head toward where I said, and don't look back. I'll try to distract as many as I can."

Dusk, Edward and Jezebel made their way to the back door of the cabin, waiting for John's signal to indicate that they should start running. He took a deep breath, holding onto the baseball bat he had found, before opening the front door to allow the demons in.

"C'mon, yer fuckers; let's see what you got!" John shouted, hinting for the other three to make their run; he began swinging the bat at as many as he could before making a run for the others. He took a different direction to give the others a bit more time to get to the old theatre before he did, all the while the horde following in close proximity. The ones closest to him he managed to knock down using his magic or the bat, which also in turn knocked down a few others that were close behind the ones he knocked down first.

While John was busy with the horde, the other three managed to get to the theatre without any of the demons following. Following the plan, they split up and began closing as many doors that lead to the stage, using what they could to barricade them. They then made their way to the one wing they agreed to meet up at: the West wing. They thought this would keep them safe from the horde, as well as allow them to continue to plan more.

John lured the demons into the theatre building, and then into the stage room. Behind him, he closed and locked the door, again, using his magic. He ran to the furthest door, which would lead him to the West wing, where the others were patiently waiting for him. Jezebel watched him run through the stage room with worry over the balcony of the West Wing. He locked the door he just exited out of, and then made his way to the wing to join the others.

"Right," He strolled into the West Wing, looking determined to sort out this mess, "Let's hope on two things: those barricades keep them in, and that we got them all in here."

"Any ideas would be good right now on how to take these fuckers down." Jezebel asked, not just to John, but to the other two as well.

"I suggest we use machinery, much like my Riddlebots that I created to help me instead of those imbolice thugs that run around Gotham." Edward stated, receiving a glance of uncertainty from John.

"Really?" John asked in a tone that sounded like he didn't want to put up with this, "You are really gonna suggest mechanics to take down a horde of supernatural beings?"

Before Edward could take a shot at John for that comment, Jezebel stepped in, "John, like we have much to go on? I reckon it's better than nothing."

"See, at least she has some brains, unlike some people." Edward folded his arms as he turned away from John and Jezebel.

"Why, I outta." John became angry, not at the comment toward him, but the slight insult toward Jezebel, "Ya know, mate, she's a lot smarter than you at a lot of things."

"Yeah, like what?" Edward turned to face John with a daring look.

"A lot." John replied back with a daring smirk as he got up close to Edward's face, "She's got better street sense for one. And do you know how to take down even the most simplest demon?"

"Boys, c'mon; at this point, we're not gonna be able to test any of the ideas we get because we'll be drawn down by you two bickering all the time." Jezebel stepped in, putting a hand on John's chest in order to push him back from Edward slightly.

"Jezebel is right, we need to stick together in order to defeat them." Dusk joined in, gently pushing Edward back.

"Edward, how do you suppose we get the tools and such to make your mechanics?" Jezebel asked, turning to face him.

"Simple. We just look around this theatre. There's bound to be some form of robotic engineering, and if not, then I can simply use what is around me, as I have previously done." Edward took on a tone of pride, causing John to roll his eyes and fold his arms.

"Okay, you get on that. You are most qualified to build the right robotics and know much more than any of us. Dusk, you help him, since you've helped him with building his mechanics before." Jezebel added; she then turned to John, once Dusk had taken Edward out of the wing, "John, you and I will try to think of a couple of backup plans in case this one doesn't work."

"Which it most likely will not." John frowned, his arms still folded.

"John, c'mon now. He's only suggesting what he knows best." Jezebel placed a hand on his arm, and with a joking tone added, "What did you have in mind, Mr Smart guy?"

"I thought, why not use magic? We've done it plenty times before, and this horde seems very similar to how zombies are. All we'd need to do is use a form of magic that affects either their skulls or brains." John nodded his head slightly to the side, with a smug look upon his face.

"So, we're using magic to blow up their heads?!" Jezebel asked with a bit too much excitement in her voice; John gave a worried look crossed with an impressed look, as he chuckled. She let out a small laugh, "Sorry, got a bit too excited there."

"It's perfectly fine, love." John chuckled, giving her a hand gesture to wave it off, "And yes, that was basically what I was saying."

"Okay, so backup plan is done." Jezebel gave a determined smile, just before Dusk arrived back.

"Hey, Jezzy; Edward wants to know if he could borrow your knowledge of demons, since he doesn't like talking with John and he actually - kinda - gets on with you." Dusk asked, peaking her head around the walls of the wing.

From the distance, Edward could be heard shouting, "I did not say that!"

"Sure," Jezebel nodded in agreement, before heading toward where Edward was; this left John and Dusk together.

"You know, I heard what you said yesterday at the train station about Belle and I." John reached into his trench coat pocket to get his packet of cigarettes, and his lighter.

"Yeah, I could kinda tell when you stopped, and then continued with a faster pace." Dusk laughed, "What about it?"

"Just thought I'd mention it." John shrugged taking a quick drag of his cigarette; under his breath he added, "It also just came to mind, I find damn sexy when she takes charge."

"I heard that." Dusk smirked, making her way out of the wing to make sure the doors were secure, leaving John by himself and blushing.

Meanwhile, Jezebel stood next to Edward, who was busy fixing the mechanics on his riddlebots that he made specifically for the task at hand. Her arms were folded as she waited patiently for him to acknowledge she was actually there after Dusk had called her.

"Ahem," Jezebel coughed in an attempt to get his attention, which didn't work; she tapped his foot with her own, "Edward, Dusk said you wanted me?"

Edward turned to face her, a look of annoyance on his face, which softened when he saw Jezebel, "Oh, good; you're here."

"Yeah, Dusk said you needed my help with something?"

"Yes," Edward got up onto his feet, overpowering the smaller Jezebel, who had to look up a few feet to actually face him, "I wanted someone to check over if the upgrades I added to my riddlebots would work on those demons, and I thought you were a much smarter person, than Constantine."

"That's fair enough, and Edward, play nice." Jezebel gave him a quick glare, before he began showing her the inside mechanics of one of his riddlebots; while she checked over them, she was eager to ask, "Hey, Edward, what was that argument with John at the train station actually about?"

It took a while for him to reply, but Edward eventually replied to her question, "If you must know, you remember Dusk emailed you about her receiving a gunshot wound and ending up in a 2 month coma?"

"Yeah, that's why she didn't message for a while."

"Well, there's more to it than someone just shooting her. It was during our time in Arkham City, and I hadn't long broke up with her before that. She and her friend were going to the Old Gotham Cathedral. Since her friend's boss, Two Face, was in a turf war with The Joker and Penguin, they try an attempt at murdering the girl. Dusk's 'me before you' attitude caused her to dive in front of the bullet for her friend, causing her to get hurt. I guess her friend continued to take her to the cathedral since there were medical supplies there, and she treated them for her using the doctors that were kept there. She nearly died. She must have been taken to the old Gotham hospital, because I got a very startling call phone call from CB, to get to the old cathedral, and quickly. That's when I found out."

As Jezebel listened to what he had to say, she realised two things: he generally looked guilty, and his eyes had tears pricking at the corners. She held back wanting to put a gentle hand on his shoulder, knowing he wouldn't feel comfortable with it. She just continued to listen.

"I don't think she knows, but during while she was in that coma, I had a severe mental breakdown. I was only allowed to visit once a week. The times I did, I could see she was in physical pain. If that wasn't clear, because of that incident, I have become overprotective of her, I didn't realise it at the time, but it's becoming more evident... I feel rather guilty over her having to go through that, and I know she doesn't like to talk to about it since she hates being treated differently to everyone else." Edward took a much needed few minute silence once he had finished.

"Edward," Jezebel began, slowly reaching out, but taking her hand back, "Maybe you should talk to her about it; it would do your relationship good if you did. Relationships are all about trust, and to have that, you can't keep secrets, especially if they're about one another. I'm sure if you start, she'll become more open about the feelings she has as well."

"Okay, you know, Jezebel, you're not as stupid as I thought you were." Edward smiled, closing the chest part of the robot.

"Uh... Thank you, I think..." Jezebel gave a look that was a mixture of confusion and anger, "Are they ready?"

"They are."

"Okay, then. Let's see if these babies work."

"Of course they'll work, I made them." Edward proudly stated as he grabbed the remote for his riddlebots off the floor; he and Jezebel headed back to the west wing.

When they arrived there, Edward closed the door behind him, locking it so none of the demons could get in. He then activated the remote, which showed him a view of where the robots were on the small screen. He only needed to control one as the others are programmed to copy that one's moves and orders. He ordered the lead bot to go into the stage room, as the others followed closely behind - much like an army marching into battle; this attracted the demons' attention, some of them getting confused. The robots began their battle for - what Edward claimed to be - victory. They held up their end of the fight with a small amount of demons, but Edward's plan soon goes horribly wrong, when the demons attack the robot army all at once. They take them all out.

Edward stared open mouthed at the now-scrambled metal parts; his gobsmacked facial expression soon changed to that of anger. He threw the remote to the ground, before stomping on it, jumping up and down. The other three look on with slightly weirded out that a grown man would be having a hissy fit in the middle of dealing with a demon horde.

John's expression soon changed to a smug look; he took off his coat, and then rolled up his shirt sleeves as he stated, "Let me show you how a pro does it."

Using his magic, John created a monster of sorts using the debris in the stage room, which he could clearly see from the West wing. He also used his magic to do as he and Jezebel had earlier planned - to blow up their heads. For the most part, he managed to take out about the same amount that Edward's robots did, but he had to have Jezebel help him when things took a turn for the worst. They even made a game out of who could blow the most heads up (Jezebel winning since he still had to control the Magic monster he created). The demons managed to dodge and attack every move he made, and it didn't help that it wore him out.

"So much for the pro dealing with the situation." Edward commented, adding a snicker at the end.

"Not that it went any better for you, mate." John glared at Edward, who also glared back at the mere mention of the fail he just had; John folded his arms.

"You should know, I killed more than you. Which isn't much of a surprise. I always knew I was better than you." Edward also folded his arms, raising his head in achievement.

"Yeah? You honestly think that?" John asked with a smirk as he shook his head, "Mate, obviously you weren't counting. I beat you."

"You needed help, so obviously brains triumph over brawn. As always."

"I only needed help 'cause I was controlling two things at the same time! You only had that silly little remote to use." The volume of both men's voices were rising, causing some of the demons to look upwards.

"Ha, well, I'm not surprised that a shaved monkey like you failed. It's to be expected when you look like you've just been dragged out of the street." Edward scoffed, adding a small laugh.

"What the fuck did you just call me?! You're really gonna fucking resort to calling me a bloody monkey?! In case you've forgotten, you failed too, you twat." John unfolded his arms, pointing an angry finger toward Edward, who swatted John's hand away with an unimpressed look.  
  
"What's wrong? Has your primitive brain given up and accepted that, I, Edward Nigma, am better than you?"

"Who said you're better than me? If anything, I'm better than you, mate." John got up in Edward's face, attempting to make himself a lot bigger compared to Edward, considering they were both the same height; Dusk became tired of the two of them arguing, and she went into her backpack to get her fighting essentials (such as her taser, twin swords, daggers and katana).

Jezebel noticed this as Dusk was equipping them onto herself. After she was prepared, she took a deep breath to calm herself. She pushed passed Edward and John, literally pushing their chests in an attempt to stop their arguing, before making her way to the stage room as she planned to attack the horde. She had planned to use her stealth skills and violence.

John and Edward looked to Jezebel for answers; John being the one to ask, "Where the fuck is she going?"

"I think she's going to try her method." Jezebel went to the balcony to watch over the stage room, which Dusk had entered via a door behind the curtains of the stage, and began to silently make her way to her first demon target; John joined Jezebel at the balcony as he too watched over Dusk, who was doing exceedingly well considering she was working alone and in a room full of thousands of demons.   
  
"Wow, she's pretty good." John's voice took on a tone of surprise as he watched Dusk throw her daggers like throwing knives - much like Batman's batarangs - and end up hitting a couple of the demons in the heads; his expression showed that of impressed, "Considering."

"I can't watch this. What if things go wrong?" Edward stated as he looked away, covering his eyes with his hands; on that statement, Dusk was unaware of the few demons forming from the corpses of the ones that didn't have their skulls destroyed.   
  
Jezebel shouted to her friend, in an attempt to give her a hand, "Dusk, behind you!"

Dusk quickly took them out, using her katana to swipe their heads off in record seconds. When the demons began forming around her, Jezebel began to get worried, but knew her friend would eventually find a way out the situation she was currently in.

When Dusk was struggling to keep up with the many demons surrounding her, Jezebel shook John's shoulder as she shouted at him, "John, get her out of her! Get her out of there, John!"

John saw that Jezebel was completely worried, which alarmed him since he would know that she knew Dusk better than he did; he followed her order, and pulled Dusk out of the bad situation, using his magic. He went to check if Dusk had received any bites or scratches from the incident she was just in, which caused Edward to become overprotective of her, telling John to stay away as he checked instead. From behind Edward, Jezebel signalled John to back down and leave Edward with Dusk as she recovered from the shock.

Once Dusk was recovered and he had made sure she had, Edward turned to John and Jezebel and asked, "What now, since that plan failed?"

"Well, she killed a lot more than both of us put together, so it worked closer than what we thought it would." John stated, still looking impressed.

Jezebel thought for a second, "You know, I'm sure I've read something on these specific demons not long ago, now that I'm thinking about it. I think it also had a method on how to kill them."   
  
"And you couldn't have shared this with us 4 hours ago?" Edward angrily stated, to which Dusk attempted to calm him.

"What was the method?" John asked as she went into her backpack and pulled out an old leather-bound book, "Wait, you brought the book with you?"

"I hadn't finished reading it, and aren't you thankful that I did?" She flipped through the book to find the correct page, "It says that 'A harmonious of 4 will bring these demons down. The work of team will save the town.' That means we would have to sing together."

The other 3 - including John - looked at Jezebel like she had gone completely crazy; Edward decided to make a complaint about her idea, "That is completely stupid. Are you that idiotic to suggest such a thing?"

"It's better than nothing, you tosser." John glared at Edward; he then turned to Jezebel again, "Continue, Belle."

"Well, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted," Jezebel gave a glare to Edward, before she happily read what was in the book, "The harmony builds up a part of their brains that makes their heads explode."   
  
"Cool, more exploding heads!" Dusk stepped in, receiving a smirk from Jezebel.

"The fact that some voices will be high pitched, and will be working together to do this, will destroy the demons all at once. So, what do you guys think?"

The other three seemed to be a bit skeptical of the idea; Dusk and John nod in agreement, as John stated, "Best idea we have so far, and it's all we have on these demons."

  
"Also, I get that we have to work together... But, does it have to be in the form of a song?" Dusk claimed, "I can't sing for shit!"

"Neither can I." Jezebel gave a small laugh in her throat, "But, it's worth a shot, right?"

  
"I say it's not going to work and it's a stupid idea, but like those two said, it's all we have." Edward folded his arms.

"Great. So, Edward, you and John will get the amps, to help boost our voices over the room. Dusk and I will search for any microphones in the director's booth." Jezebel stated with a determined voice; the four of them split up.

John and Edward managed to bring the 2 medium amps up to the balcony of the West wing with little struggle, or at least little struggle from John's side and a lot from Edward. Edward fiddled with the wires to get the amps plugged in from where they were without having to plug in all the wires. Meanwhile, the girls were searching through the director's booth that was set just under the stage, which easily accessible to them without having to go through the stage room.

"Hey, Jezebel," Dusk asked as she looked in the desk drawer, while Jezebel searched through the cabinets.

"Hmm?" Jezebel replied, standing on her tiptoes to reach the higher parts of the cabinet.

"What song are we gonna sing?" Dusk continued to ask her question, giving a hint in her voice that she already had an idea in mind.

"No idea, but by the sounds of it, you do?" Jezebel smiled, looking over at her friend.

"You could say that." Dusk innocently grinned, "You know what song would be good for this event?"

"Let me think," Jezebel sarcastically smirked, looking back in the cabinet.

At the same time, Dusk and Jezebel excitedly looked at each other, "GHOSTBUSTERS!"

"I guess we've chosen our song," Jezebel giggled, joining Dusk.

"I guess we have." Dusk smiled.

"I also managed to find 4 microphones in that massive cabinet." Jezebel showed her friend the microphones in her hands.

"So, what else do we need?" Dusk asked, "I reckon the boys won't - possibly - know the full words to the song, so maybe something with the lyrics on?"

"I saw a karaoke machine behind the stage?"

"Cool, let's hope that it has the song we want on it." Dusk smiled as she and Jezebel made their way to their 2nd destination; they helped each other carry the karaoke machine to the west wing, both holding two microphones each, once they had found it. Due to it being fairly light, the girls hardly struggled.   
  
Dusk had Edward plug it, claiming that they would need it to help them; Jezebel handed out the microphones, giving Edward's to Dusk until he was done sorting out the karaoke machine.

"So, Belle, what song have you chosen?" John asked, folding his arms with the microphone still in his hand.

"Well, Dusk and I chose it together, but you'll find out when Edward sorts out the karaoke machine." Jezebel smirked, causing John to give her a look; it didn't take long for Edward to sort out the karaoke machine and turn it on. Dusk shifted through the song selection and actually managed to find the song that she and Jezebel had chosen.

"What?" John and Edward shouted in sync, "Why?"

"Why not?" Dusk smiled back to them over her shoulder.

"C'mon guys, get into the fun! The song fits the situation perfectly!" Jezebel cheered; the girls' grins disappeared at the thought of singing in front of a - sort of - audience and their partners (in both senses). The thought terrified them. The both of them, so Jezebel turned to John - who was switching on his mic -, "John, you start."

"Why, it was your idea?" John looked over to Jezebel, realising she looked terrified as did Dusk, so he gave in, "Fine. Are we ready?"

"Yes, all machines are ready." Edward claimed standing; Dusk handed him his microphone, only to show her hands were shaking from nerves, so he placed a hand on her back and rubbed it, "You don't need to worry, Dusk, dear; you'll be perfect."

He kissed the top of her head, which calmed her a little; she looked up at him, wrapping her arms around him, "Please don't laugh when we do sing."

"Yeah, we've never really done this kind of thing before." Jezebel nervously rubbed her arm, which John knew was something she did when close to a panic attack; he quickly pulled her in for a hug.

He held her out at arm's length, looked in her eyes; that was when he kissed her, just in the heat of the moment, "Like we would do that, love."

Jezebel blinked to herself, in shock, as John prepared to be the first to sing. He stepped out on the balcony, the karaoke machine beside him, giving him the lyrics. Dusk smiled as she waved a hand in Jezebel's face; she looked almost as happy as Jezebel did. Edward joined John out on the balcony, as Dusk helped Jezebel out of her trance.

"Hey, c'mon, Jezzy; I get your crush just kissed you, but we need to focus." Dusk giggled; Jezebel shook her head to focus.

"Right, yeah. Focus" Jezebel bit her bottom lip, still smiling; the boys were well up to the chorus, which was when the girls had planned to step in.

Together, the four of them belt out the song; this was when the demons' head began to explode. Some of them attempted to cover their ears to stop the harmony from getting to them, but those ones failed and joined their fallen brethren. The girls excitedly went back to back at some point during the song, excitedly belting out the song with big grins upon their faces. By the end of the song, the stage room was covered in headless corpses and charred bits of flesh and brains. The four of them had defeated the demon horde.   
  
The four of them went back to the town of Salem, hitting one of the bars; the boys felt they could really use the drinks. While the two lads had their drinks, the girls talked over what they had just done, kind of shocked that it just happened.

"You know, John kinda sounded like Gerard Way mixed with Jared Leto." Dusk claimed as she took a sip of her orange juice.

"Heh, yeah, I guess he does." Jezebel smiled, slightly biting her bottom lip at the thought; she turned to Dusk, "Ed kind sounds like Branden you know, a bit softer, so like the guy from Owl City as well."

"Yeah he does." Dusk smiled, a small blush creeping onto her cheeks, "I never realised that, but I thought I would have, he sings in my ear when I need to be calmed down."

"Aw, you guys are truly adorable together." Jezebel squealed lightly, gaining a few glances from the other bar-goers, "And, I don't know what you were so nervous for, your voice is amazing. Made me think of Hayley Williams!"

"Wow, really?" Dusk asked, furrowing her brows in slight confusion, "I didn't think I was good, let alone that good. You know, I could say the same for you. You reminded me of that female singer you like."

"You mean Victoria Justice?" Jezebel looked shocked at the suggestion.

"Yeah, her!" Dusk smiled, nodding.

"Wow, okay... I wouldn't say her, maybe a dying cat, but fine with me." Jezebel laughed before taking a swig of her drink.

"And, I know that this is definitely still on your mind, so I'm going to mention it: what was with that kiss John pulled?!" Dusk excitedly shook Jezebel's arm

"I have no idea." Jezebel took a glance over at John, who was sat with his back to her as he and Edward were sat at the bar; they attempted to drink away that day's events with alcohol - John on his 3rd drink already, while Edward attempted to finish his first, "Heat of the moment, maybe."

"It could secretly be more than that, you know." Dusk nudged her with her elbow, with a small smirk.

"Ha, like he would like me in that sense. C'mon Dusk, stop fooling around." Jezebel gave a small, sarcastic laugh; her fake laughter soon turned to one of realisation that it could have very well been. She quickly shook off the idea, taking a long gulp of her drink.

"There could be a chance that he does." Dusk smiled, and then under her breath added, "A big chance."

"Maybe," Jezebel looked downward at her feet; she asked, looking back up at Dusk with a serious look upon her face, "You know that incident you ended up in, how did it affect your relationship with Edward?"   
  
"What do you mean?"

"Well, Edward seems really overprotective lately, and I just guessed it was because of that. Is it?"

"I think it is." Dusk rubbed the upper part of her arm, obviously starting to feel uncomfortable with the topic at hand.

"If you don't feel comfortable with the topic, we don't have to talk about it; I just thought to get your side, since Edward gave me his earlier." Jezebel stepped in, putting a gentle hand on Dusk's shoulder.

"No.." Dusk slowly looked up at Jezebel, who took her hand off her friend's shoulder, "No, I think talking about it would help."

"Okay, what was your view on the whole incident?"

"I feel terrible." Dusk began, getting straight into how she felt; she looked to her drink, basically talking to herself now, "I feel terrible for the event ever happening. I caused so much distress to those around me. Do you know what it's like, when you can hear those you care about in distress, while you can't do fuck all about it?"

Jezebel knew this was good for her friend, knowing that she had most likely bottled it all up before tonight, so for now, she just listened to what Dusk had to say; Dusk continued, "I felt so useless. It was my fault that they felt that way, and I was stuck in that coma, unable to help them. I couldn't even give them a sign that I was listening. I feel terrible, especially for how Edward was, and is."

Jezebel saw that tears threatened to spill from Dusk's eyes; she got up out of her seat, grabbing hold of Dusk's hand and taking her out of the bar. They headed back to the hotel, because Jezebel knew Dusk didn't like to cause a scene and also didn't like to cry in front of others. Once they were back at the hotel, Jezebel gave her friend a quick comforting hug, before allowing her to continue.

"I still feel today that I don't deserve Edward. I mean he's probably only with me so I don't end up getting myself shot again. He's probably there thinking, 'she's too stupid to figure her life out on her own'." Jezebel could evidently see that Dusk was getting worse; her tears coming much more freely, "He knows that I can't look after myself! He's just with me to make himself look better! He feels sorry for me!"

"Dusk, come on now; Edward is with you because he loves you. If he didn't, do you think he would want to protect you all the time? Would he have stayed beside you in that hospital, or at least wanted to, while you were in that hospital? You make each other better, and I've even heard him say that.You may think it was your fault, and he may think it was his, but the truth is, none of you could help it." Jezebel held Dusk's shoulders making sure she could see her face; she paused for a moment, going into Dusk's room to fetch a soft toy.

She walked back into the room, handing Dusk the soft toy she would often cuddle in times of distress, her executioner - complete with a little blood covered plush axe, executioner hood and solemn facial expression -; Dusk quickly pressed him close to her chest, cuddling him.

"Dusk, knowing you and Edward, you two will last forever, if not longer. Yes, you may have your ups and downs together, but that's the thing: you'll be together." Jezebel continued; when she finished she hinted to ask Dusk for a hug, which she accepted and pulled Jezebel closer. Dusk cried into Jezebel's shoulder, since that was where her height stopped at - Jezebel only being inches taller than her -, as Jezebel continued with a softer tone, "He might find it hard to express to you, but I do think Edward really does love you."

For the duration of the two girls getting to the hotel and having their talk, John had already finished his fourth and was halfway through his fifth, while Edward was only just finishing up his 3rd and going onto his 4th. The beer mugs surrounding them on the bar.

John had up to five finished pints of beer surrounding him and he still wasn't even the slightest bit drunk; he held the mug in his hand as he looked in to inspect it, "Yer know, I've seen some weird shit in my days, but that... that was beyond weird..."

  
Edward, on the other hand, was beyond drunk, with only 3 finished pints of beer around him, and one half finished set on the bar in front of him; he raised his arms, and made a hand gesture that signalled something scary, "You think *Hic* You think that was *hic* weird? *Hic* You should *Hic* should see the *hic* the 6ft *hic* bat running *hic* around Gotham!"   
  
John took a swig of his beer, before speaking. "I 'ave, mate, and I've still seen weirder shit..."   
  
Edward leant against John, "Wow, *Hic* You have a *Hic* weird life *hic* mate..."   
  
"You, mate, are beyond drunk..." John raised his eyebrows at him, and took a long swig of his beer before finishing it off, "C'mon, Ed, let's git you home to yer missus."

John threw Edward's arm around his shoulder; Edward's tone took on aggression as he grabbed hold of the stool he was sat on, "*Hic* Nooo*Hic*Noooo I haven't *hic* finished my pint! *hic*"   
  
"I think you 'ave had one too many pints..." John tried pulling Edward away, only to knock the chair over; he sighed to himself as Edward collapsed to the floor, hugging the stool, "...And I thought this was gonna be a holiday..." 


	32. When John Met The Pines Twins

John was sat in the living area of the lodge, while Jezebel took a shower. There came a rhythmic knock at the door, and John set down his whisky to answer, letting out a frustrated sigh as he got up. He answered to find Arabella - Jezebel's assistant/ intern - on the other side along with 2 other teens her age. John had a cigarette in the corner of his mouth.

"Arabella, isn't it your day off today?" John asked; the other 2 were play fighting with each other and looked like they were definitely related.

"Yeah, Mr Constantine." She began, only to be interrupted by John.

"How many times do I have to tell ya, kid. Call me John."   


"Okay, Mr Con...John." She sheepishly smiled, and then continued, "Jezebel said she'd help us today with something over in Gravity Falls."

"Gravity Falls; that's not too far from here, right?" John asked

"Nope, just a few bus stops along the way." Arabella smiled; she quickly remembered her friends, "John, these two are the Pines twins, Dipper and Mabel. Mabel, Dipper; come meet John!"

The twins rushed over; Mabel paused on the spot, a wide grin appeared - clearly finding John attractive. Dipper had previously heard of John's 'work' and just-so-happened to be a big fan. Arabella could already hear him saying in his mind, "Oh My Gosh! Oh My Gosh! It's John Constantine. The John Constantine!" as he eagerly stuck out his hand for John to shake, which he did hesitantly.

"Is yer sister alright, mate?" John asked, nodding toward Mabel - who let out a small squeal before fainting; luckily, Dipper caught her, helped her back to her feet and supported her. John felt rather awkward meeting these two new kids without Jezebel; he had already met Arabella, so he was fine with her. For some reason, even over his arrogance and ego, he felt uncomfortable with having fans for what he did, let alone ones that were 18 years old.

Luckily, a wet haired Jezebel approached John from behind. She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder to signal it was alright, but her stuck around to talk a bit more.

"Ya know, Belle; maybe Chas and I could give you and these 3 a lift."

"John, it's Chas' weekend with his daughter."

"I can drive too, ya know!" John generally sounded offended, but the small gleam in his eyes let Jezebel know he was joking; he decided to join Jezebel and the 3 teens on whatever quest they were taking in Gravity Falls.  


	33. Her Knight In Shining Trench Coat

Balthazar and Jezebel were in a face off as John eagerly battled against the many demon minions, to make the battle easier on her. Balthazar had been proved to be annoying toward Jezebel since he kept making attempts to woo her, and to the point that it became weird. She in turn made attempts to make it clear that she was not interested in him. Being a demon - or rather half demon -, he was able to detect the feelings John and Jezebel shared for each other, using this against them at times. He had even gone as far as threatening Jezebel with hurting John if she didn't do as she asked, only for her to find out it was a bluff.

"You know, he was perfectly happy by himself." Jezebel gave Balthazar a death glare; he smiled at her, getting out a knife from his inner blazer pocket, as Jezebel looked to John, who was still battling the demon minions, "I mean look at him; does it look like he needs you?"

Jezebel gave a worried look, watching John enjoy beating each demon; John glanced at Jezebel, and turned back to the demon. He quickly turned to face Jezebel, just as punched the last demon minion, "Belle, look out!"

Jezebel quickly looked back at Balthazar, who grabbed her before she could do anything, "Huh?"

Balthazar held up the knife in his hand, showing her, before he stabbed her in the side, "Too late, darling."

"See ya soon, Johnny boy." He laughed before disappearing, leaving behind a flash of smoke and a burning smell.

John tried to run up to Balthazar to catch him before he could disappear, only to fail; Jezebel reached a hand to her side. She held out the hand she used to see that it was covered with blood.

Jezebel used her other hand to hold onto her side, "J-John?"

"Hang on, Belle; I'm coming!" John looked toward her, before rushing to her side; in order to bandage her up, John took off his own and Jezebel's trench coat. He also used his own shirt - ripping off a small bit, enough to wrap around her - to create a makeshift bandage, "Almost done, Belle. Almost done..."

Once the bandage was done, he sat next to Belle; hugging her, he gave a smirk, "You owe me a new shirt."

Jezebel leant into his chest, with a small, weak smile on her face, "After this? Anything."    


	34. Chapter 34

A time Jezebel often felt most miserable came about. One she hated ever so much. One that caused Jez to harass her the most. It was the anniversary of her family's death. It had been just over 18 years since it happened; it wasn't something one forgot. Jezebel still didn't find this particular day any easier, even at the age of 28. In fact, she could have sworn it got worse with every year.

The guilt. The blame. She didn't feel all that close to them in life, so why did she miss them so much? Why was she sat in her room at the lodge, curled up in a ball, crying over those she felt so alone around? It was because they were her family. They looked out for her, even if her parents dismissed her gift and her little brother hogged the limelight all the time. She wish she could have just one more chance to tell them all of this.

Upon wishing this out loud, John knocked on the door; with a soft tone of voice and nudging the door open, he asked, "Hey, Belle; I know you don't feel like it, but I honestly think you could use fresh air. Stayin' in here, like this; it's not good for you."

  
When she didn't answer, he stepped closer and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Please, Belle; if not for me, for yourself."

He knelt beside her, causing her to look up and show him her tear stained cheeks, tears still falling down them; his eyes started to shimmer at how sad she looked, that he pulled her in for a hug. It almost broke his heart to see her like this, and the fact that her current expression made her look like a poor tortured soul, made him feel like he would start crying himself - which was most likely why he pulled her in for that hug. They sat there, hugging for a while. For so long actually, that John had to shift slightly since his thighs were beginning to lose feeling in them. He sat with his legs out stretched, and Jezebel sat between them, his arms wrapped securely around her as her face planted into his chest. She continued to cried into his shirt, trying to quieten her sobs. He pulled her in tighter, not wanting to let her go.   
  
After a short while, he pulled her away from the hug and wiped away the tears; with a soft, sweet smile, he asked, "How's about you and I go to the mall, and see if can get ya that new game you've been after?"

"John," She stifled a sniffle, her head lowering causing a piece of hair to fall in her face, "I don't think I deserve presents. I don't even deserve to be talked to today."   
  
"Nonsense, love." John moved the piece of hair that fell in her face back behind her ear, "You, of all people, deserve a treat to cheer you up. Please, Belle, you should know none of us can stand to see you like this; it's heart breakin'... especially to me."

Jezebel was silent for a few moments, before nodding her reply; John jumped up, and then helped her up by holding out his hands and pulling her up when she placed hers in his. He grabbed her hand, and helped her get ready - knowing how much the depression part of today effected her in even the most simplest tasks -; thinking it would be quicker, she chose to just put on her dolly shoes instead of her knee-high boots. John grabbed their coats, helping Jezebel into hers first, and then shrugging himself into his own. They then headed out the door, using Chas as a taxi service to get into Atlanta town centre, where the shopping mall of choice was.   
  
John and Jezebel spent the day in the mall, and up until around lunch time things seemed fine. That was until the mall became too crowded for Jezebel's liking; she and John were tasked with looking for somewhere to eat, but it became rather difficult for her to move, due to the crowds, now feeling watched with every move she made. As a form of coping, she retreated into her own mind. She had very few coping strategies for crowds since she didn't really happen upon them very often, and one was to try and remember a song she had heard or a passage from a book she read. This became difficult, however, due to Jez being a voice in Jezebel's head for most part. Jez gained the upperhand when Jezebel retreated into her mind, causing Jez to constantly try talking her into 'letting her out'.

As she and John wondered through the growing crowds, Jez began speaking of how much today was so special to them; how it made Jezebel and them closer. How it gave them reason to be together in life. For most part, Jez said of how the murder was a blessing.   
  
"It was not!" Jezebel said a little too loud, causing a couple of glances from the passing shoppers; John was at the till paying for their food, giving Jez the opportunity to continue their teasing.   
  
'Come on, Jezzy; you know, with me on the controls, you wouldn't need to worry over anything.' Jez gave an amused tone as Jezebel tried to contain her.

'Go. Away.' Jezebel told Jez; John came back over to her, her hot dog in one hand and his in the other.

He tilted his head at the frustrated look on her face as he passed her hot dog to her; his brows knitted together as a worried tone of voice asked her, "You alright, Belle?"

She quickly nodded, taking a bite of her hot dog; the two of them sat outside the busy cafe, since there was more room. They sat and ate their food mostly in silence, slightly worrying John, chatting every now and then. She was focusing on keeping Jez at bay. All throughout their dinner, John looked at her with his eyebrows still knitted together.

"Belle, are you sure you're alright?" John asked, a frown now appearing on his face; she gave a hesitant nod, "...I'm not quite sure you are... It's not Jez, is it?"   
  
Jezebel stared blank eyed at the table for a few seconds, before shaking her head. She didn't want to worry him, although that was too late since he already was. Once the two of them had finished, they chucked their rubbish into the bin. They looked around in the game stores, looking for the game Jezebel desired, and when they came out of the shop that they actually found the game in, the mall had apparently become busier. This worried both John and Jezebel more - John because he knew how fragile Jezebel was already on this date, and Jezebel because she despised crowds. They were walking through a particularly thick one, when Jez decided it would be fun to play mind games with Jezebel.

'You know, John is gonna end up like your family did: Dead. From your doing' Jez smirked - a reflection Jezebel could see in her mind - knowing how much these comments would affect Jezebel, 'Not that it would make a difference, because he's going to leave you. He's going to leave you for someone so much better. He'll abandon you, and then once he leaves, everyone else will too. Nobody wants you, nobody ever wanted you.'

Those last few comments from Jez were apparently enough to send Jezebel overboard; Jezebel shouted, gaining unwanted attention, "SHUT UP! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Suddenly hearing that she had said those words out loud, and then seeing the thousands of pairs of eyes fixed on her, was enough to make Jezebel shut herself in her mind, all while John was telling her with gentle hands on her shoulders, "Jezebel, no! Jezebel, don't you dare; that's just what Jez wants!" Unfortunately, his warnings were much too late, as Jezebel had already gone into her mind, giving Jez full control of her body. Jezebel's body took on characteristics and features that Jez would: the completely black eyes, the enlarged canines, the sharper nails, and the much crazier look in her eyes - as evident by the tiny speck of light -.

Manic laughter could be heard echoing throughout the mall; people began to either walk quickly away or crowd. An irritated John told the shoppers that stayed to move on - in a much less polite way of course. His warnings to the crowd failed, and they began to close in on the demon version of Jezebel. This, evidently, was a bad idea on their part as mass chaos began to strike at this point onward. Jez grabbed a knife from a nearby cafe, abandoning Jezebel's shopping, and started slashing at the unfortunate shoppers who stood close to her. This gave the hint to the others to back off. Those Jez managed to cut, now had deep cuts wherever she managed to get them. The real chaos started when she managed to grab hold of one of the shoppers, who was a massive bulky man, putting him in a headlock - indicating Jez had a lot more strength than Jezebel -.

Jez grabbed the handgun from out of his jean's back pocket; she shot him in the head - his brains splatting all over the tile floor. The other shoppers ran, screaming, into the shops - which locked up when there was no room left. As they did this, Jez saw this as perfect opportunity as moving target practice. She reloaded, and quickly shot a few rounds randomly into the crowd. She managed to kill 50 with the rounds she had. Upon searching the bodies, she managed to find more weapons, ones that she could use to either throw or aim at her victims of choosing.

While this played out, John called Chas to give him a hand, instructing him to bring specific items of use. By the time his phone call ended, Jez had already injured and killed roughly 100 people. It was a massacre. Apparently one of the shoppers - or most likely a lot of them - must have called the police; a SWAT team began piling inside the shopping mall on the 2nd floor that she was on. They all aimed their sniper rifles at her, preparing for fire if the worst come to happen. One of the more rookie cops thought she was about to attack them, when really Jez was allowing Jezebel to see the damage she had done. The cop fired his rifle, fatally wounding her chest. The bullet had entered by her heart, failing to exit.   
  
Jezebel went into shock, giving Jez control again; John ran up to her in an attempt to help and calm her, only for him to flung all the way across the shopping mall and hit a glass window - shattering it on impact. Jez did not notice that she did this, as - like Jezebel - she would not harm him purposely. Jezebel was in and out of both control and consciousness; this was mostly due to how long Jez had been in control of her body for. When Jez did take on most of the control, it seemed she was perfectly fine, only to be in serious pain when Jezebel took over after every 5 minutes.   
  
As John laid among the shattered glass and watched his partner go through this pain, Jezebel actually experienced something she never had before. She lay on the ground, everything seemed to be going in slow motion. That was when a light shone down on her, and a pair of massive wings flapped down - a dark figure between them. It was an angel, and one she recognised through John - Manny.  
  
"Jezebel, it is not your time. It is much too early for you. You live." Manny exclaimed; he reached down to her, pressing a hand against her chest. His fist clenched, causing a pain to run through her. As he raised his hand, the bullet popped out of the whole it entered, and with that the angel was gone.

Unfortunately, the power of an angel wasn't enough to stop her from going into shock; John watched in horror as her body began to violently convulse. His body hurt too much to move, and he knew those cops weren't going to do anything for her, considering they think she just killed all those people. He knew the only way he could do something was to do the one thing he hated. The one thing he really did not want to do. He knew the only way to help the both of them was to summon Lucifer. He grabbed a shard of the shattered glass that surrounded him. He held it to the near top of his wrist, and deeply slit it, causing serious damage. Near death damage for that matter.

It didn't take long for the Lord of Hell to appear; Lucifer, in all his glory, appeared with a huge smirk on his face. As he looked around at the now-frozen scene, he couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"Ain't she a hoot?" He looked toward Jezebel; turning back to John, he sashayed up to him, excitement clear in his voice, "John! John; you are the one soul I would come up her to collect!"   
  
John answered back with a weak, but sarcastic tone, "I feel so honoured."  
  
"So, who's this for this time? ... You're doing this for your partner, Jezebel, aren't you?" Lucifer smirked; John didn't answer, knowing Lucifer already knew it, "I never thought I'd see the day, John Constantine thinking for others?"   
"Oh, bite me," John slumped against the window frame he sat by, "It also involves a demon."  
  
Lucifer answered him with a lot of sass, as he puts his head in his hands, while propping his head on his elbows, "Really? A demon? I didn't know that..."   
  
John was not impressed Lucifer was mocking him, "Less of that sass, Lu."   
  
Lucifer hinted toward Jezebel, leaning in to John's face, "That girl.... There's something special about her..."   
  
John smirked slightly, "Tell me something I don't know, Lu."   
  
"Apparently so special, you were willing to risk your life?" Lucifer smiled, "Tell me, John, what is it you find special about her?"   
  
"I didn't take you for a feelings talker."   
  
"Well, she must be, if the John Constantine is willing to risk his life for her. Since, you know, it's not everyday he saves a damsel in distress."   
  
John looked slightly offended by the comment, as he replied with an annoyed tone, "Will you just go save her, and then you can have me?"   
  
"For you? Anything, my dear." Lucifer smirked as he patted John's cheek with the palm of his hand - receiving an irritated glance from John -; before making his way over to Jezebel, he turned on his heels, back to John, "But, yet; I have a little tidbit of information about your little damsel that not even she knows."

John continued to give Lucifer his irritated glance; a look of curiosity appeared in his eyes, causing Lucifer to smile, "You want to know, I can tell.... Ah, okay, you pulled my arm."

Lucifer leant in, closer to John - much like he was telling him a secret; he smiled, "You see, her sweet church mommy wasn't as innocent as we all think she is. Nooo, she actually practiced in voodoo and hexes as a young lady, just before Jezebel was born actually. Do you know what this means?"

John just glared at him to continue, "It means your little damsel isn't as weak as she seems. As a matter of fact, she has a whole lot of witchy powers stored in there somewhere. Very high powered ones as well. Ones a lot of people would kill to have, dear Constantine."

Just as Lucifer finished explaining his big reveal, a flash of smoke came from beside him; Balthazar appeared, "Oh, don't mind me; I just wanted to witness the John Constantine coming to Hell. It really must be a site."

"Is that all?" John asked, slightly leaning to look passed Lucifer.

"As a matter of fact... no." Balthazar looked almost giddy as his attention returned back to Lucifer, "You see, almighty one..."

"Stop being such a kiss ass," John gave a weak smirk, earning a glare from Balthazar.

"As I was saying, you see, I would like to use Johnny boy there, as a little plaything. I want to use him to lure my fair damsel over there." He hinted over at Jezebel, who was still in mid-freeze.

"What do I get out of it?" Lucifer folded his arms

"You, my lord, I will owe you a favour." Balthazar gave a bow

"Hmm, very well, we will discuss the favour another time, but for now." Lucifer smiled, before making his way over to Jezebel; he put her under a sleep trance.

She ended up collapsing into his arms, while he fixed her up, and managed to put Jez back at bay for a short while. Balthazar nodded, as Lucifer looked over at him to take John, who was shaking his head no in an attempt to stop him, before he and John disappeared. Lucifer took his turn to have Jezebel reappear at the lodge, on the couch, and used a memory wiper spell to erase her face from anyone that was at the murder scene. Once clicking his fingers everything was back to normal. Jezebel woke up, slightly confused and feeling a little queasy.

"John? Chas?" She called, worry high in her voice.

Chas ran in, sounding confused beyond belief, "Jezebel?? I.. I was just on the phone to John, how did you get here so fast?"  
  
Jezebel's face took a look of confusion, not entirely sure to how she actually got here; she shook her head, shrugging her shoulders. Chas saw how confused and full of worry she was, causing his father side to take over. He sat her up, and brought her in for a hug.   
  
"Hey, come on," He said with a soft tone, holding her out at arm's length; after a short while, he asked, "Did John come back with you?"   
  
"...John's not back?" Jezebel asked, looking at him as he shook his head, "I don't even know how I got back."

  
"I'm sure he's fine... He... He probably... got someone to help him get you back safely..." Chas was now the one to gain a look of confusion and worry; this caused Jezebel to become even more worried.   
  
"Chas, you... you don't think Jez... Jez k-ki.."

Chas cut her off, parting from the hug to give her space, "No. As evil as she is, Jez wouldn't even hurt him in the slightest."   
  
"...Yeah... Yeah, I guess you're right... She wouldn't..." Jezebel looked to the floor, unsure of herself; she looked up slightly seeing blood stains on her shirt. Blood stains that looked too much from someone else, "Hey, Chas, did John say anything to you about what happened?"   
  
"Not much, just that Jez had taken a turn for the worse, and was actually attacking others. Why?" He replied.   
  
"There's a lot of blood on my shirt, and it doesn't look like it's from anyone else. It... It looks like it's from me." Jezebel answered with a tone of shock, "But, I don't feel any pain."  
  
"Maybe you should go check. I'll give John another try, while you do that." Chas began to walk off into another room, dialling John's number into his mobile; Jezebel checked herself for any injuries, only when she opened her shirt, she only saw a light scar, indicating that she once had an injury that and it healed fairly well.

She gave a confused look as she buttoned her shirt up again; Chas came back in not long after, a rather solemn look on his face, indicating John didn't pick up. He came up behind her, and that was when he gasped almost dropping his phone, making Jezebel worry, "What? What's wrong? Is it John? Is he alright?"

"It's not that... He didn't pick up... But, that mark, on the back of your arm..." Chas began, "Where'd you get it from?"   
  
"What?!" Jezebel tried to take a look, only to get a small glimpse of it; Chas grabbed her mobile and took a quick picture of the symbol he was talking about, and then he showed it to her, receiving a gasp, "Isn't that the... The.."

"The Satanic Cross..." Chas finished for her, "Also known as..."   
  
A look of anger crossed her face, "The light of Lucifer."

She got up off the couch; she headed toward the corridor where the rooms John forbid anyone - other than him, Jezebel, Zed and Chas - going down, with a determined look on her face, "Excuse me, Chas; I've got to talk to a certain pain in the ass devil."  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will follow up from this :3 Also here's a reference for the symbol on Jezebel's arm: https://darkangell666.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/satanic-cross.jpg


	35. Balthazar's Trap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: in this chapter, there is a moment that Jezebel summons Lucifer, and the method she uses - apparently - actually works. Please do not try it as it is dangerous.

Jezebel made her way down the corridor John forbid most people who entered the lodge from entering - except for himself, Chas and Jezebel -. She continued down it until she came to a room quite near the end; on the door a devil's trap symbol, set there in order to keep any demons inside the room from going any further than that. As she entered, she went into the duffel bag that was left to the side with the right items that anyone would need to summon certain demons, or in this case head demon. She pulled out a couple of vials of holy water in case she needed to keep Lucifer at bay, along with 2 red candles, 2 black candles, an athame knife, 1 quart of goat's blood, and a picture of Lu himself (who gladly took it for them, so featured a rather odd pose). She headed over to the altar.

After setting up the candles on the altar that was needed, Jezebel went to her usual spot in her mind for concentration, taking the physical image in her hands and imagining it in her head. With her eyes still closed, she took the athame and pointed it at the physical image, chanting along with 'I invoke thee Lucifer bright morning star you are to show me power and wisdom and help me gain my ever lasting desires'.

She then lit the 4 candles, again chanting, 'I invoke thee Lucifer, this is my oh divine purpose Lucifer to have communications with you, do my bidding Lucifer with no strings attached. I ask for the powerful goddess Tyche to aid me in getting you Lucifer to obey me.'

Taking a deep breath, she took the glass of goat's blood and drunk it. She waited a couple of minutes for something to happen, and when it didn't, she sighed. She was packing away the items she had just used, when Lucifer's voice spoke, "Ah, Jezebel, my dear; it's only been....what... 5 minutes? And already you call to me. Please, do tell, why do you summon me?"

"Lucifer. Get your sorry ass out here. Now." Jezebel gave a stern warning, folding her arms.

"Oh," Lucifer chuckled, suddenly physically appearing in front of the pissed off Jezebel, "That tone doesn't sound very friendly."

"You'll get more than an angry tone, if you don't tell me where John is, and I know it has something to do with you, because the last thing I knew I was at the mall with him, and almost dead." Jezebel glared at him, her eyes looking over his face for answers, only to get nothing, "Now, tell me."

"Alright, darling, alright." Lucifer held up his hands in defence when Jezebel held up a fist toward him, "If I get something in return, I'll take you to your knight in shining trench coat, my dear."

"Like what?" She gritted her teeth, becoming more impatient; her arms were folded once again.

"Well, we can come to those details later on... As for Constantine, I shall take you now." He had a grin on his face that made Jezebel feel wary about him; he held out his hand for her to take, "Well, do you want to see him?"

"Wait a sec, tell me; you're not one to not have something in mind of what you want, so clearly you have something up your sleeve. What is it?"

"Nothing up my sleeve, my dear." Lucifer turned fully to her, his hands behind his back, "I promise."

"Ha, like I'll believe that."

"Do you not want to see him?" Lucifer asked, again turning away from her with a grin on his face, "You know Balthy, always ending up having too much fun with his 'friends'."

"Wait, Balthazar has him!" Jezebel shifted to stand in front of him, "Why didn't you say that in the first place!"

"Well, I didn't see that as an important detail." Lucifer's eye lids half closed, looking at his nails and using his thumb nail to clean the nail of his index finger.

"That is, like, the most important detail in the information you've told me!" She took hold of his hand, in a way that one would when shaking hands, "We've got to go! Let's go now!"

"Very well," Lucifer took a second of concentration to focus on the place they needed to be, and soon they were teleported to Balthazar's lair: a club for demons, angels and half breeds alike. A place where they could hide from hunters and exorcists.

Inside Jezebel's head, a very excited Jez used their vessel to look around, 'Ooo, Jezzy, I like this place. Maybe we can come back again?!'

"No, shut up." Jezebel said out loud a little too much.

Turning with a smirk, Lucifer asked, "That demon giving you trouble?"

"No." Jezebel folded her arms and pouted as she continued to follow Lucifer, who gained a few quick bows and nods from his fellow demons as he passed them, while Jezebel received glares, considering some of them were ones that she had defeated earlier in her life; he grinned looking over his shoulder at her, "Piss off."

"Heh; oh dear, did Jez get on your bad side, dear?"

"That there isn't really your business, so I am not going to tell you."

"You won't need to tell me, sweetie; I already know. I know everything, remember. God of the underworld, remember." Lucifer grinned, making a gesture to emphasise that fact, receiving a huff from Jezebel; folding his arms, Lu turned to Jezebel, "You know, it is basically John's fault he's in this mess, always falling into traps or rushing into things, when there are other ways he could go about problems..."

"Tell me about it...." She gave a small smile; all while they searched for Balthazar or at least where John might be, Lucifer smirked to himself.

Jezebel was about to ask why, when a male demon leaned against her, reeking of alcohol; he grinned devilishly, as he leant into her ear, "Hey, babe; wanna leave this place and head somewhere more private?"

"Piss off, I'm busy." She bluntly stated, continuing to follow Lu; the demon continued to nuzzle into her, ignoring her statement, causing Jezebel to get more pissed off and punch him, "Do you not get the concept of 'piss off', mate?"

Due to this, the demon bumped into another demon; a rather bulky one, who didn't like that the smaller demon had caused his drink to spill over his shirt. They ended up in a bar brawl, others joining in. Upon this happening, Jezebel was pulled into it via a half breed punching her in the jaw, and her not wanting to back down from a fight, she jumped in, actually diving on to the half breed that punched her, knocking the wind out of him. Lucifer laughed as he stood aside and watched the action take place, having a glass of his favourite cocktail appear in front of him. He sat at the bar and waited.

Meanwhile, John was way down in the dungeons, reflecting on how he ended up in this mess. It started when Balthazar appeared during that whole scene at the mall; when everything was a frozen scene, like someone had pressed pause on their remote. Just before Lucifer fixed up Jezebel. Balthazar had just stated that in return for using John as a plaything to lure Jezebel, he would do a favour for Lu. This, of course, did not impress John.

_"What?!" John attempted to sit up, only to have pain course up his arms - where the most pain came from - and through the rest of his body, causing him to slump back against the window frame he leant on, "I ain't no one's plaything! If you honestly think I'll let that happen..."_

_"Oh, shush, John; would you prefer to go to Hell or live a little bit longer?" Lucifer smirked, tilting his head slightly to the side; John lowered his head, to which Lucifer leaned closer to John's ear, "Just as I thought; there's also the off chance that you would be shortening her time with him."_

_"Yeah?" John gave a small laugh, "I would rather it be me, than her."_

_"That's the spirit, Johnny." Lucifer, once again, patted John's cheek with the palm of his hand, receiving a glare from the injured John._

During the time John was in Balthazar's captivity, Balthazar had ended up having way too much 'fun' with John. He had ended up having multiple injuries - along with the ones he had received from the Jez incident -, and the most serious one Balthazar gave him was a stab wound to the abdomen. Trapped in one of the cells in Balthazar's dungeon, chained to one of the walls, he clutched his hand around the wound in an attempt to stop or slow the bleeding - to no avail -. He was without his beloved trench coat, and his wound was most likely infected from the treacherous conditions of the cell.

Still clutching onto the wound and gritting his teeth in pain, John asked himself, "Why does this shit always happen to me?"

Suddenly the door slammed open, Jezebel appearing in the doorway, swinging a pair of keys on her finger; she was smirking, "Cause you're an idiot that rushes into things? You tell me."

Jezebel had managed to escape the bar fight, to which Lucifer was still entertaining himself with; John quickly turned his head to face her, causing a pain to rush through his body, "Belle, no! It's a trap!"

Balthazar appeared behind Jezebel, a smirk on his face as he put a finger to his lips to signal John to keep quiet; with no idea on what was going on, she asked, "What are you on about?"

"Hello there, beautiful." Balthazar whispered into her ear; he held her chin with a hand and turned her head to face him.

Jezebel jumped back, anger on her face, "Balthazar, what do you want?!"

Balthazar, still smirking, replied, "Just... to talk, my dear..."

John shouted to her, with worry clear on her face; she looked toward him - not turning her head due to Balthazar keeping hold -, worry on her face, "Belle, don't you dare... Jezebel..."

"Excuse me, my dear, just a second." Balthazar magically made a baseball bat appear from thin air, as he strolled up to John; mocking his prisoner - causing John to angrily look up at him from the floor -, Balthazar walked toward John, "Oh Belle, oh Jezebel."

Lifting John's chin with a hand, while the other held onto the bat behind his back, all while laughing, "Oh, John, you're pathetic!"

Jezebel angrily shouted as she leant forward, and scrunched her nose up, "Balthazar, if you dare hurt him, I'll deport your sorry ass!"   
  


Balthazar leaning on to John, with his arm around him, "You hear that, Johnny boy; she wants to save you, ain't that sweet?"

Jezebel still angrily looking at Balthazar, pointing at him; her eyes not leaving the bat in his hand, "Don't you dare! You lay a hand on him and I swear..."

Balthazar used his magic to wrap a rope around Jezebel; he proudly stated, his hand to his chest, "I wouldn't dream of laying a hand on him, my dear..."

He strolled toward a now tied up Jezebel, who angrily glared at him with gritted teeth, "...A bat... Now, that there is another story... There, now she's taken cared of."

Balthazar made his way back to John, kneeling down in front of him; John angrily glared up at him, "Do your worst, mate."

Balthazar grabbed John's chin, and slowly turned his head to look at either side of John's face, with a grin on his face, "Gladly...Now, let's destroy that pretty face, shall we?"

Balthazar began beating John with the baseball bat, causing a loud 'thack' noise to take over the whole cell. On the other side of the room, Jezebel suddenly felt a small twinge in her chest and head; because it went away quickly, she questioned its existence. It soon came back, but more severe. She clenched her eyes shut, and when she opened them, they were fully black, indicating Jez had - once again - taken over her body

Jez maniacally laughing as they used magic to untie herself; Balthazar stopped beating John, and turned to face her with a confused look, "What the?"

John, now even more beaten and bruised, gave a worried glance, "Oh shit, just what I need..."

Jez stepping toward Balthazar, claiming, "Balthazar, didn't anyone tell you that these two are my playthings?"

Balthazar gave an unimpressed, "And you are?"

Jez got up in Balthazar's face, causing him to lean back and look rather surprised; she wore a smirk on her face, "Me? I go by Jez...."

Jez stepped back, and grabbed the bat from Balthazar with her magic, shoving it in his face, "Now, half breed, for messing with my playthings I'll beat you... After I have had a lil' word with Constantine."

Jez made their way over to John, who by now was in serious pain and almost dying; they lay down, leaning on their elbows, as they propped their head in hands, "You know, it's a good thing she cares for you as much as she does. Otherwise, you'd be dead."

Balthazar suddenly realised something he was told and who Jez actually was; he grinned, "Lucifer always knew there was something special about you and now I know why!"

Jez turned to face him; giving him a smirk and raising an eyebrow, Jez started to laugh maniacally, "Ha, you hear that, John? Ha, you couldn't be more wrong, Balthy!"

Balthazar unimpressed that she just laughed at him; Jez approached him, raising a knife behind his back, "Then, please, do tell; what?"

"All in due time, my friend. But, for now, you pay for messing with my playthings." Balthazar was super confused what she meant, causing him to give a, 'huh?', just before Jez stabbed him in the neck with her knife.

Jezebel/ Jez shook her head, and Jez went away, having Jezebel have full control over her body again; with confusion, as she rubbed her head, she asked, "John, w-what happened?"

When he didn't reply, she asked with a more worried tone, "John?"

She turned to look where John was, only he was unconscious and on the verge of death. Jezebel ran to his side, holding him in her arms, "John! No, please.... Don't be.... Please, I can't... I can't lose anyone else!"

John somehow made a bit of a recovery, enough to bring him back to consciousness; looking up at Jezebel, who let go when she felt him move, he weakly grinned, "Hey, you can't get rid of me that easily, love."

Jezebel gasped before she hugged him due to be overly glad that her partner was alive, "John!"

John gave a smile, even though he still had serious injuries, "Ow"

"Oh, sorry," Jezebel sheepishly grinned; not 5 minutes later, Lucifer appeared to them.

He grinned, "Aw, look at that the hero and her damsel are now re-united once again. Isn't that sweet."

"Wait, you knew Balthazar was waiting for me; didn't you?" Jezebel gave an angry glare at Lucifer as she gently helped John to his feet

"I may or may not." He gave a smirk, innocently looking up.

"That's bullshit, mate; you know she knows you did." John stated, his arm around Jezebel's shoulder - although she was a couple of inches shorter than he was, so ended up slouching slightly -; he smiled slightly, "Gods, that was a mouthful."

"You can say that again." Jezebel grinned.

"Well... Now that, that is sorted, I can be on my way and wait for your little favour when I think of it, dear Jezebel" With that, Lucifer was gone with a quick flash of smoke; John slowly turned his head down to face Jezebel, who avoided eye contact from that point.

"You made a deal with him?!" John almost shouted; his weight was half on Jezebel, who looked as if she struggled slightly, so he tried to lift as much as he could on his own, his face softening.

"I had to summon him somehow, and how else was he going to help you and me, if I didn't?"

"There are other..." John stopped mid-sentence, hunching over and clutching his side, "Ah, fuck!"

"John?!" She worriedly exclaimed; she took on a protective position, trying to help John steady himself.

Looking around, Jezebel saw that Balthazar was wiping himself down, indicating that he had not long healed himself from her/ Jez's attack on him. Gently placing John back down to the ground, careful not to make him any more sore than he already was. She then marched over to Balthazar. She grabbed his shirt collar, pulling him in close. He flinched.

"Listen here, shit bag; you're gonna take John and me back to the human dimension, back home." She pulled him as close to her face as she was willing to; she raised a balled up fist, threatening to punch him, "Get it?"

Balthazar flinched when she brought her fist closer to him, causing him to quickly nod in reply; once she put him down, he smiled as he unruffled his suit, "You know, my dear, you can be incredibly scary when you want to be."

"Oh, you haven't seen scary yet, and you will if you don't hurry the fuck up." She smiled as she rushed back over to John, performing a quick spell to keep the pain at bay for the trip, and then helping him to his feet once again.

  
Balthazar lead them to a room on an upper level to the dungeon, which they took a while to get to considering John's condition; the room featured an altar, and a few items required for sacrifice. He excused himself for a few minutes; through the glass window that the room had, John and Jezebel could see that Balthazar was talking to his man slave, who went off and he quickly came back into the room.

"This will only take a few minutes," He gave a small nod; Jezebel became curious over what he needed to talk to his servant about.

As she was about to ask, Balthazar's butler arrived back, dragging an unwilling demon with him. The unwilling demon was trying his best to get away, only to not prevail. Balthazar's butler tied the demon to the altar, making sure the bonds were tight enough. The butler stepped aside, holding out a dagger for his boss. Balthazar took the dagger, looking into the devil's bible for the part he would need. He eventually found the part he needed, letting out a satisfied, 'ah' when he did.

He told Jezebel to stand with John on the other side of the altar; he also told her to place a hand on the demon sacrifice's forehead. Not feeling a hint of guilty for the demon, she followed Balthazar's orders, still keeping John held up with her other arm. Once she did this, Balthazar began reading the passage he needed to teleport others - in this case John and Jezebel -. Upon Balthazar finishing the passage, John and Jezebel were sent home, back to the human universe.

The journey back to the human world has caused John's injuries to worsen; he doubled over, landing on his knees due to the pain and from the weakness he felt. Jezebel knelt beside him, trying to help him to the bed on the lower level of the lodge - for a much better environment for him -. She struggled, urgently calling to Chas to help her as she did. Chas instantly attended to her calls, throwing one of John's arms over his shoulders and the other arm Jezebel had over her own. They teamed up to take him to that bed.

Jezebel took on the goal of taking care of John, making sure he didn't take on unconsciousness, while Chas went in search for a healing spell or something that could help keep him from the risk of losing his life. It took a short time, but he eventually found the spell, or rather potion, he would need to help his best friend. He rushed back into the room Jezebel and John were in, seeing that she had opened John's shirt and placed a wet flannel on his wound as well as cleaning John up.

"Jezebel, I found something... But, it's not guarantee it will work completely."

"Why? What's wrong with it?" She continued to clean the blood and dirt from John's body, not turning to face Chas.

"It only works to the point of only healing to stop serious damage. It doesn't heal completely, meaning it will leave wounds, but will heal them enough to stop it risking his life and causing this much pain."

  
"Anything is better than nothing," She turned to face him; she took out her phone, "What do we need, and tell me if we have it; if not, I'll get Zed or Angel to get it - Angel knows places."

Looking at the book, Chas read through the ingredients, "Well, it says we need: 2 parts willow tree bark, 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract, half dried apple - or a dash of apple juice will do -, and a pinch of Rosemary. I don't think we have the tree bark or the Rosemary, but we have everything else."

"Ok-ay," Jezebel text to the two friends previously stated, asking if they could receive the ingredients that they didn't have; John steered, gritting his teeth as his abdomen wound caused pain to go through his body.

She took the flannel from the wound, rinsing it in the bowl of water that she had set next to her feet on the floor, before placing it back over John's wound, all while holding his good hand in one of hers. Angel quickly got back to Jezebel, claiming that she would be round in less than 10 minutes, which she stuck to. She dropped off the ingredients that Jezebel requested from her, handing them to Chas, who had already prepared the ones he had.

Taking the ingredients, he set up the potion in the small kitchen of the lodge; he put all the ingredients into a jug, and then set it on the stove, heating it up to make the potion required to help John. He boiled it and allowed it to cool down, before pouring it into a glass cup. He headed back into the room Jezebel and John were. He handed it to Jezebel, who took to sitting John up, while Chas prepared the potion. She leant John against a pillow that was propped against the bed rest of the metal framed bed. She helped him drink all of the potion, holding the cup due to one of his hands being too sore and the other holding onto his side.

Once it was drunk, Chas and Jezebel waited for a few minutes before they noticed that John's wounds healed only slightly and the pain in his face eased. It indicated to them that the potion worked. Now partially healed and well, John and Jezebel sat in silence on the steps of the lodge - getting some fresh air; as Jezebel nursed his wounds enough to stop them from opening again, John asked with curiosity on his voice, "Belle, tell me something when you thought I was...dead... why did you panic so? Why do I mean so much to you?" 

Jezebel stopped dressing his wounds; she sighed, as she looked down into her lap, "John, there are a million reasons to why you are important to me and I would rather not list them...."

John leaning forward into his lap, turned his head to face her, "And why not?" 

Jezebel still looked down into her lap; she fiddled around with the first aid equipment that she was using to tend to John's wounds, "Because... most of them are embarrassing, and I'm scared you'll laugh if I tell you...." 

John took her chin in his hand and lifted her head, so that they were looking each other in the eyes; giving a half smile, and raised an eyebrow, he replied with, "Love, I have no reason to, but I am curious to know why.... Care to explain?" 

Jezebel's eyes dart from side to side from feeling uncomfortable with eye contact; her head slightly lowered, "You want to know why you are so important that I would freak like that?"

John waited for her to continue, which she did, "Well, it's because.... you... you saved my life, John. If you hadn't come along when I was sitting on that street corner, I would probably be dead, either by own infliction or through starvation... You've shown me more than anyone ever could... You encourage my gift (if you can actually call it that at times). You help me when... Jez comes about and you didn't freak either when you first found out. You are someone I can relate so much to, in so many different ways... Those are part of the reasons... There are more, but I...I don't know how to word them, yet..." 

John: was silent for a few minutes, making Jezebel worry; she gave him a worried look, before slightly aggressively moving her head from his hand, "Go on, then laugh... I told you, they were stupid reasons...." 

"As I said before, I have no reason to laugh at you. Those are some pretty... reasonable explanations... And to be honest, I honestly don't know where I would be without you either..." John frowned as he raised an eyebrow; he, again, lifted Jezebel's chin.

He realised Jezebel looks like she was about to cry, and pulled her into a tight hug, "Jezebel, you mean a lot to me, and that's not something I like to admit to people, especially in front of others, but I felt like you needed to know that..." 

Jezebel hugged him back; she sniffled as she burrowed her face into his chest, "Thank you, John...." 

"You're welcome, love" John smiled slightly; he winced as he remembered the wounds he had previously received, "... Maybe we should get these wounds treated...." 

"Maybe we should" Jezebel parted slightly from the hug, and also gave a small smile; she parted fully from the hug and continued to treat John's wounds. 

John, once his wounds are treated, leant on to Jezebel's lap, and she supported herself on her right arm; he rested his hands on to his torso, his good hand overlapping his bad. Jezebel smirked, while raising an eyebrow, looking down at him, "How is it you get yourself into so much shit all the time, anyway?" 

John looked up to face her also raising an eyebrow, with a smirk, "And what's that supposed to mean?" 

"Well I do have to save your ass a lot, if you think about it." She giggled slightly.

John looked down and thought about it for a second; he chuckled, "I guess yer right there..." "I guess that makes me your hero too?" A small smile on his face, "Guess it does..."   


	36. Julian

Jezebel led the way, with Charlotte - aka Chokehold - and Dusk following behind her, toward a place she wouldn't usually go to unless needed; Dusk had asked if she knew of anyone that could help her get a dress for a party that she and Edward would be attending. Jezebel had a friend in Manehatten called Julian who was very fashion forward, and he always loved helping her out in a jam due to the many times she helped him. It was also a chance for Jezebel to treat Charlotte to a dress of her style due to being down and in need of cheering up. They head toward a simple looking boutique: it was small with a single blue bulb on the outside hanging over the door.   
  
"This is it?" Charlotte gave a sneer to the look of the shop, as the three of them stop outside it; she folded her arms.

Jezebel smirked knowingly, "Oh, trust me, it's bigger on the inside."

Dusk and Charlotte looked at each other with questionable looks, before Jezebel held open the door for the both of them. The three of them walked into the boutique, only to be greeted by a very tall man. He was very tanned and his hair was a more styled slicked back style. He appeared very stylish, and very sassy; he immediately hugged Jezebel with a wide smile.   
  
"Jezzy, darling! It's great to see you again." Julian grinned, now parting from the hug, but still grinning.

"Julian, I'd like you to meet Charlotte and Dusk..." She backed up and made a gesture to show her friends.

*OMG!" Julian placed the palms on his cheeks, and gave an over excited expression; he held Dusk by her shoulders, looking her over, "She's perfect for my latest project!"   
  


"I am?!" Dusk gave a worried glance over to Jezebel, as she was tightly hugged by Julian.   
  
"Oh, yes; I'm always getting girls or people that are over the height of 5'10, so it's nice to finally work on someone a different size." Julian dragged Dusk by the hand to the measuring room and began measuring her; she attempted to hide her body due to feeling insecure, only for Julian to swat her hands away, "You should be proud of yourself, sweetie; you have a wonderful body, and that's something coming from me since, well, it's obvious I have the perfect one."   
  
He smirked and gave her a quick wink, before collecting all the required equipment he would need to make her dress; Jezebel and Charlotte entered the room, Charlotte still with her arms folded and with a grumpy look. Jezebel smiled, "See, I told you! That's a comment you should take to heart, since Ju is always blunt about things."   
  
Charlotte huffed and rolled her eyes; she walked back into the main lobby of the boutique. She sat on the steps that lead to the upstairs part of the boutique. She pulled her knees to her chest, leaning her head on the top of them and wrapping her arms around them. Jezebel peeked into the room her taller friend was, only to see how upset she was.   
  
She rushed over to Charlotte's side, sitting beside her, "Char?   
  
Charlotte was surely trying to hold back from showing anyone that she was upset, and she was succeeding for most part. That was until she looked up and looked into Jezebel's eyes. She immediately looked back down, feeling like Jezebel had seen.   
  
"Why am I such a freak?" Charlotte began, "Why can I never understand people even when they're being obvious? Why do I get jealous of the slightest bit of attention someone else is given?   Why do I get jealous over how easily others can make friends?"   
  
Jezebel waited for Charlotte to finish before she immediately wrapped her arms around her friend, surprising the darker haired girl; Charlotte's crystal blue eyes - which had hints of purple in them - met Jezebel's hazel ones, when they parted from the hug. It was quite obvious how seriously upset Charlotte was, "Char, you are not a freak."  
  
"Ha, tell that to all the doctors and counsellors I've had." She looked to the ground, away from Jezebel, and began playing with the bracelets - that featured the logos of many rock bands - on her left wrist.

"Charlotte," Jezebel placed a gentle hand on top of Charlotte's right hand, stopping her from playing with the bracelets. Due to the slight crush that she had on Jezebel, her heart began to beat faster over the skin contact she and Jezebel shared, but she still refused to move her hand away. She knew Jezebel was going to be serious with her when she called her by her full name, "You don't need a doctor's approval: you got me and Angel. You made being in that asylum fun. You always cheered me and Angel up when we needed it, especially after our sessions with Dr Chirofield. He really hated you..."   
  
"Remember when I bit his hand when he was trying to get to you?" She added a small laugh, causing Jezebel to smile.

"Yeah, I remember that," She laughed along with Charlotte, who suddenly went sad again; with a smile and a sweet tone to her voice, "Char, you're a good friend; you always will be to me and Angel for sure. You protect your friends from danger and put them first. You'll always stick by us, no matter what, as we will with you."  
  
Dusk wandered into the main room, wearing the dress that Julian had been working on for her, "And, not that I was listening in, but I am honestly jealous of the bond you two share, just from being in that asylum. You two understand each other a lot more than I would be able to."   
  
"You are?" Jezebel and Charlotte asked at the same time, turning to face their smaller friend, who gave a small nod and a smile.

"See, you're not the only one who is jealous." Jezebel smiled; at the end of Jezebel's speech, she added with a nudge to Charlotte's arm, "Anyway being normal is boring, being weird is fun!"   
  
The three of them giggled, before Charlotte added, "That's a pretty dress, Dusk."

"It is, isn't it?" Dusk looked down at the dress, "You don't think I look fat in it?"   
  
"Of course not!" Both Charlotte and Jezebel quickly exclaimed, just as Julian entered the room, a measuring tape around his neck and the sleeves of his shirt rolled up.   
  
"Who's the one that made the dress?" He folded his arms, raising an eyebrow.   
  
"Ju, it looks amazing!" Jezebel smiled, as she strolled over to Dusk to get a closer examination of the dress.  
  
"I know it does." Julian closed his eyes as he made a proud face, still with his arms folded.

"I was going to ask when we walked in, but if you wouldn't mind, making a dress for Char, here, since she is need of cheering up" Jezebel asked, as Charlotte stood up to join her; she placed both her hands on Charlotte's shoulders.   
  
"Of course I wouldn't mind!" Julian smiled; he rushed Charlotte back into the measuring room, and immediately started measuring her.   
  
As Julian was making the outfits for the 2 girls, Charlotte asked, "Hey, Jezzy?"   
  
"Yeah," Jezebel replied; she was sat in one of the waiting chairs across from the dressing platform.  
  
"You never told us how your first few weeks at John's went down."  
  
"Yes, I would like to know how that went down as well." Julian added; Charlotte started to fidget due to being told to stand still for a long amount of time, causing him to hold her by the shoulders, "Darling, stand still."

"I haven't?" Jezebel replied with complete shock.   
  
"No, you haven't even told me." Dusk added, causing her to give a confused 'huh'.   
  
"Okay..." Jezebel thought for a moment, "Well, I guess I would have to start with that I found it incredibly hard to trust him and it was the same on his end - he found it hard to trust me. He quickly got used to me though, and eventually trusted me, even if it was a bit. I, though, I still found it hard. There was one time we had to go into someone's dream to get some information on a case via candles and an incantation. As we sat to start the incantation, he held out his hands and with a half smirk...."   
  
"Like those ones that make you blush like crazy?" Dusk asked with a grin, causing Jezebel to think back and blush.   
  
"Yes." She smiled slightly, and continued with her story using an intimidation of John when it came to it, "With that half smirk, he asked, 'c'mon love, you do trust me, don't ya?'. I didn't want to jeopardise the case, so just told him that I did."  
  
"How did you end up there?" Julian asked, his gaze focused on the dress he was making.

"Well, from what I told you, after I met him on a London street, I basically followed him back to the lodge, where he asked me to sit down. He went down this corridor, where I actually followed due to him being a while and I felt incredibly awkward in a new place, alone. I found that he was looking each of the rooms, until he came to the 5th room, which he actually entered. I guess he knew I was following, cause that's when a short haired man walked out of nowhere. He told me his name was Gary. When it became obvious I was talking to Gary and not him, John immediately rushed over to the door. My attention stayed on Gary though, who told me of how he died and the case he worked with John before he did. I'll spare you the details on that."   
  
"Aw," Charlotte pouted, being a lover of gore and horror.   
  
"As I was saying," Jezebel half smiled at her friend, "My attention stayed on Gary, who told me he had been there for some time, due to feeling like he owed John something even after the case they worked, protecting the lodge when John, Chas and Zed were all out. Once it appeared that I had stopped talking to him, John stepped in. Asking Gaz - which was what John obviously referred to Gary as - about something in their past and Gary giving him a bit of information."   
  
"So, he basically used you?" Dusk asked, anger for John in her eyes; she was sat in the seat beside Jezebel.   
  
"Yeah, I admit, that was what it felt like, and it didn't help with my trust issues either, but I could tell the case he was on made him stressed."   
  
"That's not really an excuse to use you, especially on your first day of meeting him.." Dusk butted in, her anger for John rising.  
  
"Well, to be honest, he was a lot more blunt with me than he was with Zed."   
  
"Oh," Dusk flatly replied, "Continue."   
  
"Okay, so yeah, that was basically the first day. Other than being introduced to Zed and Chas - who were much easier to get along with due to being more open -."  
  
"I heard from Zed that you and John argued a lot in your first few weeks, that true?" Charlotte asked, seeing the hate of the topic on Jezebel's face.   
  
There was a long break between Charlotte's question and Jezebel's answer, and it wasn't because she wanted to think about it; she had a look that said she really didn't want to talk about this topic, but she went ahead with answering anyway, "I don't really like talking about, and neither does John in all honesty, but yes, me and John did have a lot of arguments in my first few weeks staying with him, which was why I intended on getting my own place. We argued over the smallest and even stupidest things at times. But, we eventually made up and quickly put our differences to the side."   
  
"So, how did you end up trusting him?" Julian asked, a couple of pins in the corner of his mouth.   
  
"Well, it was a rather fast moment actually," She rubbed the back of her neck, an awkward expression on her face, "I guess it happened when we were trying to escape a few cops and criminals that had been after our heads for a while, back then. They eventually caught up to us, backing us up against the edge of a pier, - and due to us both being handcuffed, we couldn't escape in separate directions -, that was when John pulled out the revolver that was in one of the outside pockets of his trench coat. He pointed it at my head, threatening to pull the trigger if they came any closer."   
  
Jezebel paused to see if they were paying attention still, only to see that all of her friends, including Julian, had paused what they were doing to pay attention to Jezebel's story; they looked like they were practically on the edge of their seats and eager to know what happened, so she continued, "I angrily glared at him, about to ask what in Hell he was doing, when I saw that in his eyes, he wouldn't do. He couldn't. I dunno why, but in that moment I trusted him. Though, when the criminals and cops backed off we did jump into the ocean that the pier lead to."

"You know, what you girls just inspired me for a new liine!" Julian squealed with glee; he had now finished both dresses for Dusk and Charlotte, and the extra ones for his latest line, "Thanks for that, all three of you will get an extra dress for free!"   
  
He actually does this, making a unique dress - or outfit - for each of them to wear; upon finishing, he exited the measuring room to see John had entered the shop, looking around. Julian's eyes lit up as he began dragging the poor exorcist into the second measuring room. He measured him, and then quickly found a fancy outfit. The outfit - and being pulled from getting Jezebel - annoyed John.   
  
"Ju?" Jezebel asked - wearing her new dress - as she entered the measuring room he was in; she began laughing at the outfit and annoyed pout John wore, "John, don't you look so handsome."   
  
Before John could give her a piece of his mind - probably involving a lot of swearing considering the annoyed mood he was now in -, Julian stopped him, "Wait, this is  **the** John?!"  
  
"Yes, that's John." Dusk held back laughter as she and Charlotte entered the room as well; Charlotte, on the other hand, was laughing her ass off. Dusk's reply practically made Julian squeal with delight. ~  
  
"Can we go now?" John asked with a sulky tone since he was intentionally there to pick Jezebel, Charlotte and Dusk up.   
  
"No." Julian bluntly replied, looking over the outfit he had put on John, and then routing through a clothes rack, until coming to another outfit, "You're actually perfect for something I've been working on lately."   

John began to grumble to himself, once Julian replied and kept him in place. Jezebel and the other girls had the time of their lives watching John being a grumpy ass over his situation and not being able to go off on his own accord.He then added, not at all enthusiastically, "Yay" 

Julian then pulled John off the side - behind one of the screens - for quite a while, only for them to return; John wearing a very ridiculous outfit, which Julian later confirmed was done on purpose. The girls immediately started poking fun at him, only for him to answer with - his accent becoming thick closer to the end -, "Seriously, girls, I will - and can - kick all your asses."    


	37. Harley Quinn

After picking Jezebel and her friends up from Julian's boutique (and he had ditched the outfits given to him), John dropped Charlotte off at her home in Atlanta, and then set off for Gotham. On the journey there, John mentioned of a high amount of demons hiding in Arkham City. They were going to sneak into there anyway, considering that was Dusk's new home ever since she and Edward were sent there, so Jezebel agreed with investigating.   
  
"Wait, how were you guys going to sneak in?" A confused Dusk asked, remembering that getting out was a challenge in itself; both John and Jezebel flicked up a card each - which at that moment looked like ordinary playing card -, though before Dusk could comment how a playing card would get them in, John butted in.   
  
"They're psychic paper; will show anything we want them to." He stated, tucking the card back into the inside pocket of his trench coat; his tone was slightly cold, but Dusk and Jezebel put that down to him concentrating on his driving.

"Oh." Dusk replied, looking down into her lap like she had been told off; Jezebel spotted this and glared at John until he spotted her out the corner of his eye.   
  


He eventually did; in a much gentler and less harsh tone, John added, "It would be able to get us in as one of those TYGER guards, or at least a position that can get us access, without too much hassle. That way we can get away with asking questions at random people, especially the creeps."   
  
"Oh, well, that makes sense." Dusk's smile grew back; for the rest of the trip, Dusk drew in her little sketchbook, Jezebel made a few notes on the case, and John - of course - kept his focus on driving.

While on their journey, John made a pit stop, which was where he and Jezebel changed into the hospital night guard uniforms - save for the pants - he had managed to get somehow. Upon arriving on the edge of Old Gotham, John parked the car where it wouldn't be able to get broken into as well as somewhere that he could remember the location. They then made the short stroll to the heavily guarded gates of Arkham City; walking up to the gates, they were approached by two guards, getting a face full of guns. Jezebel had a hold on Dusk's arm, making an attempt to make it look as if Dusk was her prisoner. The multiple guns, however, slightly made her feel anxious. 

"State your business!" One of the guards exclaimed, his weapon not leaving the position of in John's face; he looked as if he was the captain or leader of these few guards, since his uniform was slightly different to the others.   

With little emotion, and removing the gun from his face, John did as he was asked - for once -, "This one thought she could escape the hospital she was taken to. Was told she was from here."   
  
"I recognise her. Do you both have credentials?" The lead TYGER guard asked, just as John and Jezebel showed their psychic cards - which showed that they were night guards at the Eliot Memorial Hospital -.  
  
"We've been assigned with getting her back to the area she has requested, which is essential because..." Jezebel began, losing track of her plan; John took over, realising his partner was stuck.

"She's required to be there. End of story, mate." He frowned down on the slightly-shorter man in front of him; he and Jezebel replace their psychic cards back into their inner pockets.

"I guess I can't argue with those IDs, and that's a pretty straight forward story." The TYGER guard stated, and then ordered his men to lower their weapons - which they did -; he side-stepped, allowing access for John, Jezebel and Dusk, "You may pass."

Dusk looked up at the much taller man than her, getting a glare from him and a squeak from her; she hurried a bit faster, pushing into John's back and pulling Jezebel into hers. As they get around the corner, out of view and earshot of the TYGER guards, Jezebel went to take off the handcuffs off Dusk, only to discover she had already done it herself.

Dusk sheepishly grinned, "Heh, sorry, Eddy taught me how to escape handcuffs."   
  
Jezebel, giving a small laugh, nodded, "Well, I guess it would come in handy when in trouble."

"Belle, would you mind getting into your normal clothes, so we can blend in without getting pummeled to bits?" John was tying up his tie when the girls turned to him; the fact that managed to change in and out of clothes so quickly made Jezebel blush slightly as he passed by them, "I'll stand guard; Dusk, you watch the other end of the alley. Thought I heard someone."

"Sure," Dusk grinned, upon seeing her friend blush; once she knew John was out of the alley, she turned to her with her grin still growing, even as she passed her friend to guard the other end of the alley, "Don't think I didn't see you blush then!" 

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jezebel took off the bulletproof vest, that had on the logo of the hospital Dusk had previously stayed at, to reveal she wore her blouse underneath and her scarf was tucked into it; she threw it to the ground, where John put his own, and took out her trench coat from the backpack she was previously carrying. "And stop grinning like that, you look like the Cheshire cat. Jervis might take you to Wonderland, if you're not careful."

Dusk's grin fell into a frown, remembering her experience with Jervis Tetch in her first few years at GCPD. It wasn't pretty to say the least, since she ended up having nightmares for weeks; she remembered how creepy he was at times, "Gee, thanks for that reminder."   
  
"Sorry...Well, at least if he does, you wouldn't be called Alice, right?" Suddenly remembering her friend's experience, Jezebel gave a sheepish grin, "I mean that's his only fascination right now, isn't it?"   
  
"I guess that's true.I don't look like an Alice as much as I did during the GCPD years." Dusk admitted, walking up next to her friend.

"Are you done yet?" John moaned with his back to them from the front of the alley; Jezebel rolled her eyes as she walked passed him, with Dusk following close behind.

"Yes, I'm done." She shoved the backpack into his chest with a little too much force; he was almost knocked off his feet, causing Dusk to laugh at his quick dazed state.

"She got more strength than you thought?" Dusk grinned, receiving a glare and a raised eyebrow from John; she now gave a small laugh. "I take that as a yes."

"Can we just find your other half and get on with this?" John frowned, following Jezebel up the street toward the ACE Chemicals building; they had quite a long walk ahead of them to get to near the Courthouse - which was near about where Edward was hiding, due to being on the run from both Batman and the medical team.

After a walk that was roughly 5 to 10 minutes long, they eventually found Edward looking worse for wear in an abandoned area of the Bowery; he looked a mess - his suit dirty and his tie badly damaged -. He looked very beaten up, which everyone put down to Batman - again. His hair looked like a mop stuck on top of his head.

John stood over him; he tapped the sleeping Edward's foot with his own, "Oi, mate."

Slowly, but surely, Edward woke up; he angrily glared up at whoever dared to wake him, "What?!"

"You're looking pretty banged up; what happened, get hit by a truck?" John stuffed his hands into the pockets of his trench coat, after lighting a cigarette and putting it in the corner of his mouth; Edward was quicker than John thought him to be, because in a quick few seconds, Edward was up on his feet and in John's face.  
  
Pointing at the inch taller John, Edward continued to angrily glare, "Listen here, you ignorant Liverpudlian: you would feel this way too and not be bothered about how your appearance looked if your girlfri... italicize was in a bad state, and you not being able to know if she is okay or suffering!"

"You mean this partner?" John stepped aside with his arms now folded to show a shocked Dusk, who was staring at Edward while nervously rubbing her arm.   
  
"Hey, Edward," She smiled, stepping closer to him; she was now stood right in front of him, looking up at his skyscraper-like height to her.  
  
"Dusk?" Edward blinked, "Dusk, you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Edward," Dusk stood on her tiptoes as she made an attempt at giving a comforting hug despite the height difference; she pulled away, looking him in the eye, "Are  _you_ okay?"   
  


Before answering, Edward looked behind Dusk at John and Jezebel, "Yes, I'm perfectly fine."

Dusk could see that he was in fact the opposite of 'fine', just by the look in his eyes; she looked over to Jezebel, who almost instantly got what she was asking. Jezebel began shoving John around the corner to give Dusk and Edward a bit of space, though she herself did listen in - mostly because of how much she loved the two of them together -. She heard that Dusk asked how he really was, seeing how emotional he looked. She knew how he was bad at lying, especially when it came to his feelings.

What came next surprised not only Dusk, but Jezebel as well; Edward began to rant, " Great. Just great. First I get humiliated in front of a crazed bat freak and some under average guards. Then I have to watch my own partner nearly die and now I'm on the run from the guards AND batman within this place and YOU are captured and sent back here!"

Edward turned away from Dusk as he finished what he had to say.   
  
"I decided to come back myself, Edward." Dusk stood her ground, standing closer to him, "No one told me to come back. It was my own choice."

Edward turned away, clearly angry, "Why? You nearly died here! Any normal human would have been climbing the walls to leave this 'hellhole'!"

Dusk began to get angry at him, causing her to yell at him, "Well, I came back for you for the most part! I could have easily just said 'Well, I'm out of here' and left that trash of a city behind me. But no."

  
She calmed herself via taking a deep breath, "I couldn't just leave you or CB here on your own. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I did that..."

She looked down to the ground, trying to avoid eye contact with Edward; he clenched his fists, not wanting to be wrong about anything.

"Also... I appear to be okay. I mean, I was able to get myself and those two to this location without much trouble." Dusk looked upwards at him; nervously stroked her arm, "And my motor skills have returned, even if it's by a small amount."

"But what if something did happen?" Edward continued, "What if, while you and your 'companions' were making your way here, you were attacked by low life thugs during a turf war? What if you were used as bait? What if... he...got to you first..."

Dusk looked at him in a concerned manner as small pricks of water start to fill his sight; he still continued to try to not get emotional, "What if... The bat... found you... And...and...he..."

"Ed..." Dusk walked up to him and placed her right hand onto one of his cheeks, which was scruffy, "You don't have to worry about batman trying to attack me or using me in a way to get to you."

Dusk used her thumb to stroke his cheek, "Neither of us will let him do that."

Edward had a moment where he placed one of his hand on top of hers, while Dusk was talking; he then gave Dusk a tight hug, crying onto her shoulder as his grip became tighter. Dusk had been a bit shocked at the sudden action but stroked his back to help calm him down. Thinking John and Jezebel had left, Edward pulled Dusk into him. He placed both hands on her face, kissing her passionately. From around the corner, Jezebel made a squeak that happened to be a little too loud. 

Edward blushed, throwing a wrench toward them due to being caught showing his feelings. Dusk hid inside his jacket, herself blushing as well. Jezebel laughed as she apologised, "Sorry, sorry; you guys are just so cute together."

She walked closer to them, John following behind her with his hands in his trench coat pockets; she stood next to Dusk, as Edward replied with a pout, "We are not cute."

"Seriously, though, we need to go." John frowned, becoming evidently frustrated, "So, we'll be seeing ya."

"Hold ya horses, John." Jezebel growled at him, before turning back to Dusk, "Well, I guess we better get on with what we came here to do, before Mr Grumpy Butt gets even more irritated."

Though slightly awkward, the two close friends gave each other a goodbye hug; Jezebel was the first to part from the hug with Dusk, who smiled, "I hope you catch whoever those demons are."

"You mean if they find any," Edward scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"What do you mean by that?" Jezebel's brows furrowed as she frowned, "We deal with the supernatural day in, day out. You've even witnessed it for yourself."   
  
"Well, of course someone of your limited intelligence would ask that." Edward rolled his eyes, "You're too much of an idiot to understand the concept of ghosts and supernatural not existing."   
  
"Now, that is uncalled for, mate. Just because someone else believes in something you don't, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. You probably believe in something she doesn't, don't make you or her any less intelligent." John frowned - fire in his eyes -; with a slight smirk and a quick wink toward Jezebel, "Anyway, there's times she's proved herself to be smarter than you."   
  
"I doubt that," Edward added under his breath; John sneered at him, seeing how much Edward putting her down affected Jezebel.

"Ya know what, we don't have time for your bullshit. We've got work to do." John gave a sarcastic smile to Edward, before grabbing Jezebel's hand and pulling her along; when out of earshot, "Belle, love, I don't know why you put up with his shit."

"Other than him being my friend's other half, I honestly don't know. I put myself down as it is. I don't need others doing it." Jezebel rubbed her arm, causing the sleeve of her trench coat to stay up above her elbow; John looked over at her.   
  
"I know, love, I know." John frowned; he smiled to himself, before pulling her in for a hug, stopping the both of them in their tracks, "Belle, you know, if I could, I would punch the twat to Hell and back, but I know how much you prefer not to for Dusk's sake. Besides, you're helluva lot smarter than I am."

He laughed when he saw the tiniest of smiles creeping on to Jezebel's face, "See, you agree with that one."

"Only cause you jump into danger all the time." Jezebel gave a gentle shove, though he wasn't expecting it, so nearly ended up tripping over his own feet.

Meanwhile, further down the road Harleen Quinzel - aka Harley Quinn - sat quietly crying to herself on the steps of one of the older buildings; the steps lead to a large manquee, this was more where she sat in order to keep hidden from others. It had been less than a month since Joker's passing and she still felt so alone. She considered that everyone's comments about her just being Joker's sidekick or 'pet', and that her not being as smart as she had thought herself to be when starting in the business of psychology. The constant comments from Batman, Robin or any of the rival thugs, that put her down.

She leaned into her lap, her hands covering her face; not only was her puddin' gone, but her revenge plan on Batman failed too. She felt like a complete and utter failure. She felt frustrated with herself, not only because she could not get rid of the Bat, but because of how she let him treat her. As she sniffled, she heard two people approaching: a man and a woman. She looked to her left to see someone she had seen around before in Gotham: John Constantine, along with a pretty, slightly younger girl, and they looked like they were having a good time to her.

They looked to be heading in her direction, but she wasn't too bothered. Considering she wanted to be alone, and looked it, she did not think they would approach her. Boy, was she wrong. Due to her being the closest person to them, John was going to question her first. She frowned at them, turning her head only slightly, trying to give them the message that she wanted to be alone. Unfortunately, John was determined to solve the case they were on, so was going ahead with his questioning.

As they approached, the female (Jezebel) tried pulling on the sleeve of John's coat to pull him away, "John, c'mon, she looks like she doesn't want to be bothered."

She instantly leapt to her feet, realising he wasn't going in a different direction and that they were coming over to talk to her. She quickly rubbed the tears away, before they could get any closer to her, from a distance they couldn't see that she had been crying.

Upon approaching, John recognised her, having previously heard of - though never really approached - her; as John and Jezebel get closer, her hands went to her face in excitement as she exclaimed, "YAHTZEE! Aren't you two the cutest couple I ever did see!"   

Harley continued to rant on how much she thought these two looked adorable together and how she had now found a new OTP; John watched as she bounded up and down, "Miss Quinn, will you calm down... We need to ask you a few questions."   
  


"I like her; she seems fun... and she made you blush, Johnny." Jezebel whispered more to John with a teasing tone to her voice; she giggled seeing a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks - not realising that her own cheeks had the same effect.   
  
John cleared his throat before continuing with his questions, "Could you tell us, if you've seen any strange - supernatural - goings on?"

He was basically ignored, as Harley began a conversation with Jezebel; she excitedly asked all kinds of OTP questions, her back to John, "How long have you been together? Have you kissed yet? Ooo, How far have you gotten, ya know, like in bed?"

Jezebel stood dumbfounded, her face bright red from the questions she was asked, especially the last one; she was completely amazed at how little Harley needed to pause for a breath between the questions she asked. Jezebel couldn't even get an answer in between her questions with how fast Harley spoke when excited. John sighed, realising he wasn't going to get any answers from her. He strode up to Jezebel, taking hold of her arm.

"Well, it was nice meeting ya, Miss Quinn, but we have work to do.." John began to pull Jezebel away; Harley's smile quickly changed to a frown.

"Wait..." Her tone was soft, and almost sounded like she would cry again, "Please. Can I come with you?"

  
Jezebel saw how much sorrow were in Harley's eyes, and without John's approval, she nodded, "'Course you can."

John frowned for only a second, shifting the large duffle bag from his right shoulder to his left; the frown changed into a half smile due to how sweet Jezebel could be at times, especially to strangers and those who needed a bit of kindness. Harley looked to him, causing Jezebel to turn to face him as well, to ask for approval. He nodded with a small smile, receiving a small squee from both girls.

After meeting them, Harley constantly butted in - both conversations and building windows - to tell both John and Jezebel they looked cute together; she did this 5 or 6 times between asking other citizens and thugs of Arkham City questions on the demons or strange goings. Due to this, John was at first annoyed by Harley, but soon got used to her silliness and just put up with her. His annoyance toward her soon changed into friendliness, since she figured a riddle out for him that she ended up being able to solve. Jezebel soon and quickly befriended her, because Harley took a huge interest in her job - seeming very enthusiastic and interested -. With Jezebel, Harley took great interest in her abilities. Most likely to tell her that they really were a gift, via gushing over it and being excited about it.

As they were wandering around the streets of the Bowery, a shadow quickly passing through one of the older, abandoned buildings happened to catch Jezebel's eye; she saw that John was busy questioning some of the big thugs that were just chilling on the street, so opted to go explore by herself. Unaware of Harley curiously following behind her a few feet.

She slowly pushed open the rotting door; as she stepped inside, she called out, "Hello? Are you alright?"

Jezebel strolled a bit further into the lower part of the rickety looking apartment building - seeing how there were no (human) tenants from what she could see -. She spotted a small rat scurry along the bottom step of the main stairwell before she entered through a wooden door frame. That was when she got the jump scare of her life; to her, it was her nightmares made real. It reminded her too much of a clown, a memory she would rather forget. Its skin looked like acid dripping off over the VATs it would be stored in, and its yellow eyes felt like they were baring into her soul.

A cackling laugh escaped the ghost's throat, as it was tearing its own hair out of its head - skin coming off with some of the clumps -. Due to the full on being dipped in chemicals effect of the ghost and it once living in Gotham, Jezebel assumed that the ghost was once a thug belonging to The Joker and was pushed into a VAT of chemicals or at the very least being sprayed with them after pissing his boss off.   
  
Harley stepped into the room, causing Jezebel to look toward her; looking back, she saw the ghost had gone. She let out a relieved sigh, turning her attention back to Harley, who now stood beside her new friend. Harley made an attempt to try to look at what she was, seeing nothing.

"Wowzer," Harley stated, hinting at Jezebel's pale complexion, now looking ghost white; letting out a few little giggles as she did, "You look like you just saw a ghost!"

Upon seeing her new friend's serious face and the anxiousness she kept shifting toward the corner of the room she was looking at when Harley entered the room, Harley took that as Jezebel did in fact see a ghost; with a slight bit excitement, she asked, "Wait, you can actually see ghosties?"

"Umm," Jezebel began pulling Harley out of the apartment building by linking arms with her, before continuing with answering her question, "Yes, I can."

"Oh, gee, that's cool!" As an excited child might, Harley jumped up and down with excitement; she had a huge grin on her face, though that faded when a certain question came to mind, "If you don't mind sayin', do ya see my puddin'? Mistah J?"

Jezebel frowned, looking around; she then shook her head, "Unfortunately no; sorry. I did, however, see a very frightening looking ghost in that apartment building... He looked like he might've worked for... umm, Mistah J, was it?"

"Oh," Harley frowned further, her head lowering; she quickly dismissed it, trying to put on a happy demeanor, "Never mind, maybe he's round near the Steel Mill. Afterall, that's practically his home."

"Could be." Jezebel gave a sweet smile, and then tried to add a little humour to the mix as a further attempt to cheer Harley up, "Or maybe he's haunting those he doesn't like?"

"Hehe, that sounds more like my puddin'." Harley grinned; her overexcited nature getting the best of her, as she ended up tightly hugging Jezebel a bit too much, causing her to let out a sheepish giggle, "Oopsies, sorry about that."

Jezebel was let go, and she attempted to get her breath back; with a smile, she added, "Heh, it's alright. I have a friend who actually does much tighter hugs than that."

As Harley asked completely random questions about Jezebel's gift (one of them being 'Has there ever been a bunny ghostie?'), John became frustrated over the lack of answers he was getting for the case he and Jezebel were on. He stormed back up to the girls, Jezebel instantly asking what was wrong.

"Not one person in this bloody town knows nothing about those strange possessions going on." John frowned, folding his arms; she took the large backpack from him, throwing it over her shoulders.

He took out a pack of cigarettes from the inner pocket of his trench coat; he frowned further, "And I'm out of cigs!"

"I've got cigs too, you grumpy shit." Jezebel rolled her eyes, going into her own inner pocket to receive her cigs; she passed them to him, but not before holding them back from him, "Ah, what's the magic word?" 

"Hocus pocus; now gimme a bloody cig." John snatched one out of the pack; she tucked the pack back into the same pocket as he lit it.

"Gods, touchy; aren't you?" Jezebel gave a half grin.

"Where did you guys say these ghostie happenings were going on?" Harley asked, curiosity dripping from her voice; she looked to be in thought, trying to remember something.

"Rumours said round near Gotham City Olympus, I think." John took a drag of his cigarette.

"Oh, that? That's in the Amusement Mile. You're way off being round here." Harley answered, raising an eyebrow; she then started to skip off, leading the way, "C'mon, I'll show ya." 

Though it took a while and a lot of effort, the three of them eventually made it to the Amusement Mile; the area was almost completely submerged in water, at least in the areas they won't be needing to go. Upon entering the right section of the Amusement Mile they were looking for, John evidently tensed up. He had spotted a large number of demons almost instantly. Harley got to asking questions for them, being a little over the top with her baseball bat at times.   
  
"Tell us what you know about those demons!" Harley yelled, happiness clear in her voice; she looked as if she had needed to give a good beating to someone.

Not to any of their knowledge, Batman was in the same area; he was investigating drug lords that had taken up refuge. He was determined to take them down. As he glided over by the Gotham City Olympus, he saw Harley Quinn beating up what looked like a random thug to him. Seeing that John and Jezebel were stood aside, he assumed that they were either part of her plan or they were captives. He thought there was only one way to find out: dive down there and discover for himself. Without thinking, he divebombed straight into Harley, pinning her down and allowing the thug to escape.

Harley struggled to get free, as Batman leaned forward into her face; his gruff sounding voice barked at her, "Quinn, what are you up to now?"

"Nothing that involves you, Bat-brain!" She frowned; her last word sounding forced.

Before Batman could go any further, John stepped in, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his trench coat, "S'cuse me, mate..."

When Batman turned to face him, still pinning Harley, John raised an eyebrow, then shrugged his shoulders; with a lot of aggression in his voice, Bats replied with, "What?!"

"Well, if ya don't me saying... though by the looks of things, ya will.. Miss Quinn, here, was helping us with a case we're working on, and things were going fine until you came along."

"Going fine?" Batman stood up, grabbing Harley's arm; he yanked her up to her feet causing her to yelp, "By the looks of things, you were beating someone. For fun. An innocent bystander."

"And that is different to what you do?" John smirked, "Beating the sick? The mentally ill? Is that really any different?"

Harley and Jezebel couldn't help, but smile and giggle at John's comments, knowing all too well they were true. Jezebel's giggling was cut short by spotting a white-faced figure looming over the Bat. He was clad in purple and smaller hints of green. She recognised him, seeing how much he taunted Batman, and realising it was Joker. She saw that he was playfully hanging around Batman, laughing at him. For just a moment, she thought Batman saw him as well. Joker noticed Jezebel could see him, and played around with her, 'flirting' with her in his sick little ways.   
  
Jezebel's thoughts were disturbed when she heard Batman ask them, "What gives you the right to be in these parts of Arkham City in the first place?"   
  
"The same reason you do: we're doing vigilante business. We're on a case." Jezebel stated; her arms folding and an eyebrow raising, "What exactly is your excuse?"

Batman's attention turned to Jezebel; she could have sworn his eyes lit up, when he saw her though she put it down to the lighting. He stood over her - clearly dominating her in height -, an unmistakable smirk underneath that cowl. It was unsettling for her because even though she hadn't met him before, Jezebel knew it was an extremely rare moment that Batman smiled.

What really put Jezebel on edge, though, was when he held one of the blades to his gauntlet under her chin, holding her head back; John made an attempt to go to her rescue, only for her to give him a hand signal to stay put. He still kept that smirk. That unsettling smirk. He turned his back on John and Harley, still keeping Jezebel in the same position.

"You know," His voice turned whimsically high pitched for just a second or two; his eyes going green for the same amount of time, "You're very pretty... considering you deal with bullshit. Like, really, sweetheart, you believe in ghosts and the supernatural? Though, if that weren't the case, I guess I wouldn't be as famous, would I?"

He leaned in closer to her, giving off a hint to her that somehow Joker was actually affecting Batman's mind, grinning maniacally; she thought for a second he was either going to murder her or kiss her, but he did the unexpected: he licked her. That was when he blinked and lept off to the rooftops, leaving the others to question what just happened.

Harley commented with a huge amount of confusion, "Weird, that's not like him..."

"Oh, really? I thought dressing up as a bat and prancing 'round on rooftops was normal..." John sarcastically replied, quickly standing next to Jezebel; he was checking her over to see if Batman did hurt her or not - luckily not.

"No, he doesn't flirt, not even with Catwoman, and I can tell he likes her. He...he sounded almost like...." Harley's gaze followed the route that Batman exited, and then shook her head, causing her pigtails to swing in her face, "Nah, Puddin' wouldn't... Bats doesn't deserve to be like him! Not after he.... He killed Mistah J!"

Harley's fury rose, it mostly being aimed at the Batman; John and Jezebel looked at her, but her gaze went back to following Batman's route, although he had disappeared among the fog long ago. Jezebel took that as her chance to talk with John.

"John," His attention quickly whipped around to Jezebel's hazel eyes, hearing the uneasiness in her voice, "Harley asked me before about seeing Joker. I didn't, not at first. But, just then... I saw him, attached to Batman. Of all people, Batman? I get they were arch-enemies and all, but in death, he doesn't need to stick with him. There were times he seemed to take control of Batman too."

"Really?" John's brows knitted together in thought, "Did Joker spot you, like some of your 'friendly' visitors do?"

Hesitance was clear in her voice, "He... did."

Once again, his attention was back on Jezebel; this time his gaze well on her eyes, "I know that tone, something happened, didn't it?"

"Yeah..." She slowly nodded; she began to rub her right bicep - a nervous habit.

"What aren't ya telling me, Belle?" John took hold of her shoulders, gently getting her to face him, "What did he do?"

She frowned trying to think over what did happen, "He flirted with me... I think... Not the usual 'hey cutie' type flirting... It was weird... I felt really disturbed afterwards..."

"Does Harley know?" He asked, getting a simple head shake from her.

"No, I didn't know whether to tell her."

"I say tell her you saw him, just not that last bit.. I don't think she wants to hear that her... 'puddin'... has moved on so quickly, even in death..."

"Okay, I will." They finished their conversation, just as Harley skipped back over to them.

"Ya will what?" Harley asked, an innocent smile on her face as she cocked her head to the side.

"Harley, before you asked me if I saw Joker, yeah?" Jezebel started; Harley nodded, excitement coming back into her eyes and facial expression, "I just saw him,"

"Where? Is he still here?" Harley excitedly looked around, as if she could see him; then she remembered she wouldn't be able to, "Did he ask about me?"

"Well, he was. He went when Batman did. I guess he's attached to him, since he seemed to follow him?" Jezebel paused looking over at John, who nodded for her to continue, "If I was to guess, he's attached to Batman either cause he was with him when he died, or because he wanted to haunt him. As for him asking about you..."

Harley looked up at Jezebel with so much hope, that she couldn't tell her the truth, "He did actually. He said he hopes you'll be alright... and to make sure to give his boys a good whipping every now and then...?"

"Oh, goodie!" Harley bonded, clapping her hands; she began to walk off toward their destination, leaving John and Jezebel to follow behind her at their pace.

"He said that, did he?" John asked, a small smirk playing at his lips.

"I couldn't tell her the truth, John." Jezebel looked up at him; her eyes shimmered in the light, indicating a hint of sadness for Harley, "That prick asked nothing of her... and he flirted with me... I feel dirty, Harley is now a good friend and her boyfriend - her dead boyfriend at that - flirted with me..."

"Hey, Belle, it's not your fault." John wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug as they walked, "You're right, he is a prick, and if anything, he's the dirty one."

"He didn't deserve Harley, and still doesn't." Jezebel frowned, her brows coming together in anger.

"Aw, love; Harls will move on, she's a strong gal." John pulled Jezebel further into a hug, tightening it.

"And very pretty." She added, smiling up at John.

"Yeah, there's that too." He smiled back down at her; they didn't notice Harley was watching them.

"Naw, you two are such cuties!" Harley grinned, causing John to remove his arm from Jezebel's shoulders and look around, "I found that club yous were after. It's jusst over there."

"It looks like it's submerged in water..." John stated, looking over at the Olympus club, "Though, I can see why those blasted demons would hide here. Probably don't get bothered all that much..."

"Boy, were they wrong!" Jezebel grinned, wrapping an arm around John's shoulders; she quickly let go, as he leaned into her, and went off toward the club causing him to almost fall on his face, "Let's go!"

"Woah there!" John pulled on her coat, causing her to stop, "You, of all people, know not to rush into places."

"You do it all the time, so you can't say much, John." She smirked, folding her arms; she waited for him to reply, "I take it you have a plan then?"

"Yes, actually." He proudly smiled

"Please," Jezebel leaned back slightly, raising an eyebrow; his proud facial expression had soon disappeared, "Do share with us."

"Well, it's only part of a plan, right now." John sheepishly grinned

"How are we gonna get in with only part of a plan, John, hmm?" Jezebel continued to smirk, especially since he wasn't answering.

"Why don't we just smash our way in?!" Harley exclaimed with a little too much enthusiasm causing the two exorcists to look toward her, "I was the most feared criminal's girlfriend; I'm sure that will count for something, right, even in the demon world?"

"I guess it would..." Jezebel slowly nodded

"It's better than nothing." John smiled, starting to head into the building through a side entrance that they happened upon.

"I thought you had a plan or at least part of one?" Jezebel smirked, knowing he was lying.

"We have a new one, so that one doesn't matter... Let's just get in and get out." John frowned, leading the way; the further down the entrance they went, the brighter it became. The corridor they appeared to be down was decorated with oil lamps; only recently lit ones, something that John took notice of.

"Ya know, if they only need to be in one room, what need do they have to light this corridor?" John looked up at the lamps; upon taking a closer look, a door opened next to it.

"John, what'd you do now?" Jezebel turned back to face him, only hearing something opening at first; she approached the door, upon seeing it.

"I didn't do fuck all. It opened on its own accord." John frowned; he and Harley stood closer to the door, Jezebel in front of them.

When they took one more step into the dark room, the door slammed shut behind them; it had shoved them all forward. Jezebel happened to be the one at the bottom of the mini pile-up. She struggled underneath John and Harley.

"Could you guys get off me?" She tackled to get out from being under them; to no success, causing the two of them to notice they were on top of her.

"Sorry, Belle," John apologised, helping Jezebel to her feet, once he and Harley - who was trying to explore what she could - had gotten off her; he then went into one of the pockets of the backpack to get out a glow stick, snapping it to activate it.

Jezebel took out two more - one for her and the other for Harley - activating both of them, before handing Harley hers; as a source of light to help explore the new room, the three of them began their descent down - what appeared to be - another corridor, though this one seemed shorter considering the lights at the end. On their way down, the corridor shifted, the walls coming between Jezebel and her friends. When - and while - it had completely slotted into place, she thumped her fists against the wall. She attempted to move it by forcing her body weight leaning on it, but that failed.

She turned around seeing a new room to the side of her; she opened the door and entered. Again, the door slamming shut, something she took as to guessing it was because of the place being at an angle due to the water. She slowly made her way forward, causing the oil lamps in this room to come to life. She tucked her glow stick into her pocket, now having a better source of light. Going further into the room, she noticed that it expanded into a ballroom. She felt watched in this room compared to the others, which was odd. She hoped to be reunited with John and Harley soon.

Upon stepping further into the ballroom, the whole of the lamps came on including the huge chandeliers in the middle of the room. Around her, demons stood. They happily glared at her, watching her every move. She tensed up slightly, which she managed to hide.

Suddenly a booming voice echoed through the hall, "Miss Connelly, would you kindly step this way. Toward the organ."    

She looked up at the stage, only seeing a large, white pipe organ stood in the middle of it. Guessing whoever belonged to the voice was behind it or at least in the side wings of the stage, she headed in that direction. Second guessing it was also a much better place to be than down here with these demons. As she stepped onto the stage, she saw no one, but she did notice that the demons came closer to the stage, making her feel a bit more anxious. She turned her back for only a second on the organ, when a rake man appeared. His features looked pale and contorted. His back slightly arched, but still with an etiquette to it. He wore an old victorian cape, closed and covering whatever he held underneath it, behind his back. He looked out of time in Arkham City, in Gotham, in this time era.

Though, he looked elderly, his speed was not affected by his age or appearance. He used swift motions. He was lightning fast. So fast in fact, that Jezebel didn't see him sweep passed her and inject something red into her arm. Feeling a slight sting on her arm, she looked to it. She held her arm for a minute, before she felt nauseous. Her vision blurred and she almost collapsed. Before she could fall, though, she grabbed hold of the organ beside her.

The stranger removed his cape to reveal he held onto a needle; he grinned down at the glaring Jezebel. He bared a resemblance to Joker for a mere second, or at least Jezebel thought he did. One of her hands flew to her forehead, due to her head banging. She seized her eyes shut. She heard a muffled shuffling - assuming the muffled part being due to her hearing going in and out of focus - in the room behind her. She saw the strange man grin at what was behind her.

"Now, that everyone is here... Or almost here." He laughed; the other demons laughed with him, stopping when he glared, "We can begin with our little... experiment.."

From where she now sat, Jezebel heard a dampened voice; one that did not sound at all happy. It, at times, sounded familiar to her as well. Her thought process was put off by the stranger leaning in front of her, lifting her chin with his hand, forcing her to face him. 

"You, my dear," He spoke clear, but with a slight German accent, "Have discovered too much already... Thanks to your little gift, and that cannot go unnoticed. Not by us anyway. But, we thought, why not make use of this girl? Why not use her to further test it?"

He paused, looking back down to her; he smiled when she only scowled him. He continued, but stood up, "We were testing out a formula. Using the TITAN formula. The one Joker so happened to use before his... demise.."

This time a smaller, more feminine dampened voice arose; she - too - sounded angered, from what Jezebel could make out. The man ignored both the voice and the fact Jezebel's grip on the organ stool she sat next to tightened. A flood of pain ran through her body, starting from her chest and growing from there. She gritted her teeth to bear the agony.

"It was in fact, actually part of the plan, to have Joker use the TITAN formula. We knew he would get sick, but also knew of the cure Mr Freeze was working on. We knew he would infect Batman and Gotham hospitals with his blood. Not many know this, but there are a handful of people out there that can take on, what we call, the Joker infection; a handful that can survive the sickness. But, there is a... problem... they become like him... Like the Joker. I liked the idea of having mass destruction and chaos running through this already broken city. We have the cure, but..." He laughed, before turning back to Jezebel, "We also know how to infect."

Jezebel's eyes would have widened, if not for the pain; a voice behind her voiced her thoughts. Freeing himself from the cloth gag that was stopping him from expressing himself earlier, John now stated, "You fucking prick! You lunatic! What has Jezebel got to do with this?!"

The stranger boastfully smiled; his contemptuously look toward John, showing how much he disrespected the blond Liverpudlian. Before either could speak again, Jezebel did something neither apparently expected. She laughed. Loud and clear, a manic laughter came from her. From where the man now stood, he saw she had evidence of the infection taking affect a lot quicker than he had hoped. Her veins were showing all along her face, hands and neck. Clear and blue. John could see the veins creeping up the back of her neck, so he quickly used his tricks of freeing himself from the handcuffs and made his way over to Jezebel.

"Jezebel?" He carefully wrapped arms around her, only to be shoved away; he thought he saw worry, pain or madness in her eyes, but due to being pushed away and now sat with his legs outstretched on the stage, he couldn't tell for sure. 

"No," Her head was turned away from him, he couldn't see for sure, but it looked as if she was grinning; a wild and crazy one at that, "Only JEZ!"

It scared both him and Harley; the laugh she made. It was frightening. Something that had never come from either Jezebel or Jez before. Something entirely new. The demons muttered among themselves, angering John slightly due to them sounding amused at Jezebel/ Jez.

"This process is amazing." The stranger, pleased with himself, placed his hands together under his chin, "She has taken a new turn... Unlike the others....And the progression of the infection has worked a lot faster too.."

"Master," A demon stood up on to the steps to the stage, "She has, also, a demon inside her. We suspect this is what sped the process up."

"Hmm, must be." He grinned wildly; stepping closer to Jezebel with intention of investigating further, only for John to knock him down with single, swipe move.

"Don't bother, creep." John sneered, holding the man down, "She ain't for testing nor viewing."

"Unhand me!"

"Hey, John!" Harley called, now stood up and free from her binds; she held a small dagger in her hand, "Not to get in the way of... that, but your girlfriend just ran off, stage left!"

John looked up, seeing Jez/ Jezebel was no longer where he last saw her, but the stage curtains on the left hand side were billowing; he shoved the man down, standing up and running after Jezebel, with Harley following close behind, "Fuck sake."

"Wait for me!" Harley called, sprinting after John, leaving behind the stranger and his demon followers.

Even in the 5 minutes she was able to get out of the Olympus club, Jez had already caused mass chaos on the streets of Arkham City, at least in the Amusement Mile area. She had managed to find a revolver in the club - most likely because it used to be owned by crime boss -, so began to kill off multiple thugs. John and Harley soon came out of the club themselves, following the trail of dead bodies, that lead them to Jez. Neither of them said it, but they felt watched as they made their way. This was because the stranger they had met was watching from the rooftops, a grin on his face from all the damage his little 'test' was doing.

Meanwhile, up the road a way, Jez was scaring the crap out of all those who dared to pass her; she was making confetti out of a poor thug's insides, via tearing them up with the pocket knife Jezebel kept in her coat for emergencies. She was giggling to herself, when the stranger from earlier approached, his hands behind his back. Still with her legs crossed, Jez looked up with amusement at the strange man.

"Can I help you?" She frowned, hands still digging through the corpse.

"Only to ask of a small favour, my dear." He chuckled stepping closer; Jez stood and held the knife under his chin, all in a shift motion.

"Don't try it, buddy." Her eyes narrowed, the knife still in place; he looked her over, seeing that up to her elbows, Jez was covered in blood. Her shirt sprayed all down the front too, "I still remember, you know."

"Oh, I have no doubt of that." He gave a small nod and smile, "I merely ask you test your limits. I only need of a small gem, that I can not get myself, due to being guarded by those who are much skilled than I."

"What do I get in return?" She looked like she considered his offer.

"Anything, and you get the cure, if needed." He answered.

Still looking as if she considered the offer, Jez looked down at him - only being a few inches taller -, "Very well, but I shall need a name. Your name."

"My name is Lord Ruprecht Heintze." He bowed, kissing the back of her hand; Jez gave a disgusted face, not used to the affection.

"Yeah, don't do that" She folded her arms, "But, do tell me about this gem you want?"

"This gem belonged to my family for generations, but before Arkham City was opened, Oswald Cobblepot stole it from me! I need it back. I suspect he has those numbskull Abramovici twins guarding it. I also suspect with your high amount of demon powers, you can easily get passed them. It is a beautiful blood shade of red, that has a tint of black in the middle, and though it is small, it is grand."    

In response to the thief being Penguin, Jez smirked, "Yeah alright, bonus being: I get to annoy the hell outta Penguin."

"I would imagine he would be keeping the gem at that museum he resides in, The Cyrus Pinkney Institute for Natural History." Heintze gave Jez equipment she would need, before leaving her where she was - with the mangled body -; Harley ran on to the street, stopping a fair distance from Jez, who had yet to spot her, before turning back and getting John. Jez may not have looked their way, but had certainly heard them coming - mostly thanks to how better her hearing was compared to Jezebel's-. She turned, skipping toward John, with Harley hiding behind a smaller building to his right.

"Oh, Constantine, you found me!" She leaned up against him, pressing her body - or rather Jezebel's - into his; she grinned with excitement, "And it looks like you missed me too."

Slowly pushing her away, John frowned; Harley wandered back over to them, seeing as Jez had calmed down. She still stood behind John, to be on the safe side. She had enough psychical abuse from Joker when he was alive.

"No demon thingy, or whatever ya are!" Pointing at Jez, Harley pouted, "You won't get in the way of my new OTP!"

John turned to look at Harley, shaking his head and brows furrowed; a 'what the hell' expression on his face. She just shrugged her shoulders with a smile. Jez, on the other hand, ignored the new girl and kept her focus on John.

"Now, John," She smirked, knowing using his first name would put him off at least for a second since it was rare she would use it; he turned his attention back to her, his eyebrows raised, seeing a kittenish look in her eyes, "I need a bit of help..."

"Yeah," He continued to push Jez away, though she made an even harder attempt to push further up against him; he was almost too afraid to ask, "What's that with, then?"

"Well, I need to get a pretty gem from Penguin, but I dunno how to get in or get there... There's also the chance that two big guys with weapons will be there and I need a distraction." Jez started to explain, finally managing to be pried from John; Harley was now ignoring the rest of their conversation to map out the quickest route to Penguin's museum in her mind.

"I didn't take you for a gem kinda demon." John folded his arms, "What's changed?"

"The fact that if I get this gem, I get anything I want..." Jez gave a greedy grin, which quickly changed to a more innocent smile, "Oh, and that you won't see Jezebel again, if I don't."

"You couldn't have mentioned that first?"

"I thought about it.." Jez smiled, then realising John wasn't playing, she rolled her eyes, "Are we gonna go to Penguin's or not?"

"Of course we are! I think sticking to the border of the restricted area until we reach the museum, would be best." John stated; him and Jez were about to start making their way, when Harley stepped in front of them.

"Hey, guys," Harley called, "I know of a quicker way. It's through the tunnels up near the steel mill. Puddin and I used to take them all the time. It's much faster!"

"Well, that's our route then." John stated, a determined tone in his voice; he and the two girls - girl and demon more like it - set on their journey.

Thanks to Harley's shortcut, they made it to the museum a lot faster than John's original idea. Upon arriving outside the area of the museum, they could see Penguin thugs surrounding it. A lot of them sat in a clump outside the actual place, either playing card games or showing their strength off. Others were strolling around on their own. Those ones were the foolish ones, since Jez made her way round those ones and snapped their necks gaining each of them - her, John and Harley - a disguise. It also allowed them to have a better access time; she used the grappling hook that Heintze gave her to defend herself in the small battle they happen themselves into with the thugs outside the main entrance.

Getting in seemed to be easy, finding the gem proved to be another challenge. They had to look deep into the museum to find it, but they eventually found the gem in a room with a few other gems and artifacts. As Heintze had previously said, the Abramovici twins were left to guard the artifacts; the three of them attempted to make a plan, discussing who would be the ones to distract the brutes and who would be the one to get the gem. Since it was her mission, Jez made it clear she was getting the Heintze Gem.

"I think, cause I've dealt with 'em before, I should take them?" Harley looked back into the room where the Russian twins were sat back to back.

"What am I meant to do?" John frowned, sounding rather defensive.

"You sit and look pretty." Jez winked causing John to mumble to himself.

"I could take them on!" John made his way into the room, full of determination; he strode right up to Sickle, standing toe-to-toe with him, "Hey, mate!"

Harley watched in awe, and Jez with amusement, as John made many punches in the giant's abdomen; he stood back, seeing that his attempts made no impact on Sickle and only made him angry. This caused Sickle to slap John across the room, all the way to where the girls stood.

"I don't think I'm gonna try that again." He looked up at the two girls loaming over him, rubbing his chin, "I think the twat almost broke my jaw."

"Lovely, let me show you how's it done." Harley grabbed her mallet from the display cabinet that they stood next to; she then went to the door of the room, "Just be ready to run, John, and Jez you make your way to the sparkly." 

"Hey, ya big buffoons, over here!" Harley waved, getting the Abramovici twins' attentions, "John, start running. Jez, be ready for that gem."

Harley and John lead the twins into a room that they were able to lock them in, proving they were much faster and a lot more agile. While they were busy, Jez made her move for the gem. Quickly snatching it and placing it in her satchel she was given for the tools meant to be used for the heist.

As John and Harley were making their way back to Jez, Penguin's cockney accent came over the speakers, "Oi, you buggers, find whoever broke in, an' is making an attempt on my new gem or it'll be ya heads I put on a stand!"

This was when Jez took her leave, John and Harley following. From afar, Heintze and a group of his demons stood, watching and observing. They were waiting for Jez to finish her mission. John and the girls exited via their entrance, seeing as there were no longer any guards for them to worry about there. As they exited, however, that group of Heintze's demons surrounded them. Heintze emerged from behind them, making his way toward Jez.

"Did you get the gem I asked you for?" Heintze asked, his arms folded and a displeased look.

"Of course I did." Jez proudly stated, holding up the satchel; one of the demons went to take it for their master, only for her to snatch it away from them, "Nu-uh. Not until I say."

"Hey, don't I get a victory kiss?" John questioned Jez, before the events could unfold further; he wore a smirk, getting up closer to Jez, "That's basically your thing, right Jez?"

Dumbfounded, but still not enough to cloud her thoughts, Jez smirked back; leaning in as close to him as he was to her. John stole a kiss from her long enough to grab the gem without Jez taking notice. Since they flirted a lot with him, he thought this would make for a good diversionary tactic. He also made a switch with an identical gem he had found in the museum, though not as grand. He slipped the real gem into one of the outside pockets of his coat.

Happily parting from the kiss, Jez threw the small bag to one of the demons stood next to Heintze, who was lucky enough to catch it, "As promised, the Heintze gem."

Heintze got the demon holding the bag to hold it open, as he went into it to retrieve the gem; the pure excitement in his eyes. Jez cleared her throat, "Are you forgetting something?"

"Oh, yes, Miss Jez, what would you like in return?" He smiled, then clicked his fingers for a smaller demon to bring a vial; he handed the vial to John, "And here is the cure, as promised."

"Hmm," Jez took a very short lived moment to think on that question, "Wouldn't mind having the power to stop bullets, haha... Seriously, though, I wouldn't mind that."

"Very well," Heintze took 5 minutes to concentrate, but when he opened his eyes, a scroll appeared in his hands; he handed it to her, "Here, reading this will help."

Seeing how the Joker infection had now reached down to her legs and she was beginning to sweat from nothing, John took that as a chance to give the cure to Jezebel. He injected it into her arm, receiving a yell from Jez, who stayed for a mere few seconds after causing the scroll to disappear with her. Heintze was looking into the satchel at his precious gem, taking a closer look to see if it was damaged or not. Anger became evident upon his features, and more so when he smashed the gem onto the concrete floors in front of the museum.

"Get them!" He violently pointed toward Jezebel and John - Harley hiding under the old raised rail tracks -, "They attempted to trick me!"

Demons began to encircle John and a confused Jezebel; John fighting them off, to protect Jezebel, ended up being pushed against the concrete fencing that stopped passersby from falling. Not realising a small enough gap for him to fit through was behind him, he ended up slipping. The actual gem went flying through the air, landing on the edge of the fencing, as John gripped on for dear life to the ledge. Jezebel instantly made a dive for both John and the gem. She realised she would not be able to save both, and had to choose between saving John or the gem that the strange Heintze was after.

"Oh, look at that; you can't save both, sweetie." Heintze taunted from behind her, "Choose wisely, my dear."

"And there's no doubt about what I'm going to choose." For a second, Jezebel made John - and everyone else for that matter - think she was going to choose the gem, but his thoughts were put at ease when she gave him a smile; she shifted back to John, pulling him up, back onto safe grounds.

"That was your mistake..." Heintze had his head bowed, so was hard to tell what his expression; what wasn't hard to tell was that he was frowning and unimpressed, "You choose poorly, girl."

"That's your opinion, mate." Jezebel narrowed her eyes toward Heintze, seeing as he nearly caused her to lose her best friend; she stood with a protective manner in front of John.

As Heintze approached Jezebel and John, a smoke that was a mix of Twilight blue and violet stone rose up from his feet; gigantic, battered wings opened from his back, looming over the entire area. The closer to the two of them he got, the more the smoke surrounded him, and the taller he seemed to get. By the time he was only inches in front of them, he was half the size of the Museum behind them. All that could be seen from outside the vapour was the eerie glow of his red eyes, and tremendous wings aborn his back.

"I merely only wanted to cause a bit of chaos. A bit of chaos, using that Joker infection. I only like to have fun. Feeding off the disease as it did." He growled; his voice had turned as wispy as the smoke that surrounded him, "But, I couldn't have even that could I?!"

He stepped closer, Jezebel and John stepped back. Heintze continued, "Not with you around. I only wanted to inspect the toxic disease, consider the possibilities it would have for causing mischief. I wanted to rule one part of this disgusting city. I wanted to learn from this new disease."

Jezebel looked back, feeling her foot slip slightly; they were now incredibly close to the edge, and Heintze did not look like he was stopping. Over by the raised rail tracks, Harley stood in thought - and unnoticed by the demon hoard working for Heintze -.

She thought back to when the psychiatrist part of her had become curious about what she could achieve and the part that loved Joker wanting to save him; she thought of how much effort and research she put into finding as much as she could about the TITAN formula. The effects it had on the user. How long it lasted. The aftermath effects. She was also able to conceive information on the infected blood of Joker, and how the formula intertwined with it. She thought that this extra information she had could save her friends.

"Oi, mistah!" Harley called, running up behind Heintze, who looked toward her disinterested, "I know about this Joker infection you is on about. I know a lot about it."

"You?" He laughed, continuing to look toward her, "You know of advanced knowledge to this disease? Do not make me laugh. You aren't smart enough to run a gang. You're not smart enough to even live on your own. You're most definitely not smart enough to know avant-garde information on this disease."

Harley frowned, feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes; she shook her head, "That's all you buttheads put me down as! You. Batman. Robin. Even the thugs in this s-stupid city. As a buffoon. Well, I'm not! I'm not at all! Let me tell ya, mistah 'I think I'm better than everyone else cause I'm a demon', I have a degree in psychology. I am self-trained in gymnastics and defense. I faced losing a child  **as well as** the love of my life alone. So  **DO NOT**  tell me I am not smart. Because I am! And ya wanna know how I outsmarted you?" 

Looking both pleased and a little shocked at Harley's bravery, he smirked, "Please, do tell me, how have you outsmarted me?"

The ground began to shake. Plants sprouting out from various areas around Heintze and his demons; each vine grabbing and throwing a demon to their demise. Ivy then appeared on a much larger than the rest plants, looking proud of Harley. The larger plant took hold of Heintze, holding him upside down and subsiding the smoke. His weaker form taking hold. He now looked incredibly shocked and frustrated that he was outsmarted.

"You cannot do this to me!" He shouted, swaying his body around as an attempt to escape the vines, "You cannot treat someone of my high class like this!"

"Is that so, darling?" Ivy had her plant bring Heintze face to face with her; she smirked, before her eyes narrowed, " **No one** treats Harley like that.  **No one**. Understand me, meat sack?" 

Heintze quickly nodded, receiving a, "Good, don't bother these people again" from Ivy; she then gave him a quick peck on the cheek, before having her plant fling him across half of Gotham - sure enough that the impact alone would kill him, and if not then the thugs would have their ways.

John and Jezebel walked back over to Harley, grateful of her rescue; she was so grateful in fact, that she hugged Harley, "Thank you, Harley."

"Yous are welcome. It was nothing really." She grinned, hugging Jezebel back, "It was just nice to help out a couple a new friends... Though if I may ask you guys something..."

"What's that?" John asked raising his eyebrows; the two girls parted from their hug.

"There isn't much left for me here in Gotham, and you guys seem really nice and all, could I come live with you?!" She cheered, shaking Jezebel and John's arms, "I'll cook for you and I'll clean. I'll do anything!"

Before any of them could reply, Ivy grabbed Harley in a bone-crushing hug and held her away from John and Jezebel, claiming, "She's mine! Back off!"

"Aw, Red, ya do care!" Harley grinned between breaths.

"Of course I do,"

"As touching as this scene is, ladies." John stepped in, "We need to get home, now that the case is sorted."

"And we don't know our way around..." Jezebel continued, "Would you mind helping us get to the entrance?"

"It would be an honour to help yas." Harley giggled; she and Ivy lead their new friends to the gates of Arkham City, leaving for Atlanta.  

 

Bonus scene: 

After Chokehold was dropped off at her shared apartment with Jinxy, she entered the apartment. She was still in her new outfit that Julian had made for her - in an attempt to cheer her up. As she entered, she spotted Jinxy in their kitchen; she grumpily flopped back down in her armchair.

"Hey, Lottie! How was your day out with Jez-" Jinxy excitedly started to approach her friend; she stopped in her tracks seeing Chokehold/ Charlotte, "-zy.."

"Yeah... I guess it was okay..." Charlotte/ Chokehold had not realised Jinxy had stopped; shifted so that her legs hung over the arm of the chair, and she sighed when her new dress moved up her legs, revealing her thighs. She uttered under breath, "Stupid dress..."

Jinxy made an attempt to get a look up Charlotte's dress, but quickly shook her head, "That's a pretty dress... That Julian fella make it for ya?"

"Yeah, he did." Chokehold/ Charlotte shifted to tuck her legs underneath her; her brows furrowed, as she looked toward Jinxy, "How'd you know him?"

"He's a fashion designer starting out in Manehattan, how do you think?" She added a small smile.

Charlotte smiled slightly, getting Jinxy to smile further, though her smile soon disappeared, and she let out a huff, "Still, I didn't take you for a fashion person..."

"Maybe not..." Jinxy chimed, while leaning over the back of Charlotte's armchair, "But, I do like to keep up to date with new thiings."

"Really?" Scoffed Charlotte

Jinxy ignored Charlotte's scoff as she excitedly exclaimed, "Yeah, I know that it's coming up to Angel's birthday, and also Jezebel's in November, and then, the bestest day ever! Halloween!"

Chokehold/ Charlotte sat in her seat, watching Jinxy happily bounce around the apartment; her fists clenched.

Jinxy continued to list a bunch of other, non-crucial events, "Ya know, I am definitely gonna have the best Halloween party this year! Also, thinking about it, I think a Christmas party would be awesome as well, maybe this year we'll get John to ask Jezebel out..."

She giggled, not noticing Charlotte's anger was rising, "Yeah, I think I could."

Charlotte stood up, walking over to the breakfast bar, that separated the kitchen and living room, with a gap big enough for two or three people to get in and out. As she listened to how much confidence Jinxy had and she continued to list all the friends she had, Charlotte's anger continued to rise. She clenched her eyes shut, and the next thing she knew, she was knocking items - sharp ones at that - off the breakfast bar. One of those sharp objects managed to cut her hand, though she ignored it.

Jinxy jumped, now facing Chokehold, but soon regained her confidence. She walked over to her friend; she grabbed Charlotte's shoulders, "Lottie, what's wrong?"

"You fucking don't know? You forgot to mention my birthday!" Charlotte angrily glared at her, tears in her eyes; wiped an arm across her face, wiping the tears away, "Out of all those events you forgot to mention my birthday!"

She pushed Jinxy away, "I'm obviously not important to you! Not as much as all those friends you listed!"

Jinxy blinked, and then smiled, "I didn't listen your birthday because I was saving it for last... You know, best for last?"

Charlotte frowned at her with her brows furrowed

"As for you not being important. That is a lie. A complete and utter lie." Jinxy waited for her to say something, when she realised Charlotte wasn't going to say anything she continued; she took a deep breath, "Charlotte."

Charlotte's eyes widen upon her full first name being mentioned, knowing it was serious.

"For a while now, I've had feelings for you, and I've tried to hide them... Which I know I shouldn't... But I didn't know if you felt the same way toward me..." Jinxy looked Charlotte in the eyes, showing a seriousness in her own; then lowered her head, not seeing much emotion.   
  
A small silence has passed before, Charlotte stated her half; she pulled Jinxy in for a hug, "I think I feel the same way... I may not know for sure, but I think I get more upset or angry when people get close to you. I think that's jealousy, right?"

Jinxy looked up, the typical brightness usually in her eyes now returned, "Really?!"

Charlotte nodded causing Jinxy to let out a squee, "Yay!"

She immediately hugged Charlotte; she pulled Jinxy out of the hug, and held her at arm's length,  "Wait, does this mean... we're... we're a couple?"

Jinxy thought on it for less than a second, then kissed Charlotte's cheek; a small smile appearing on her face as she looked at Charlotte, "Yes."   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The timeline for this story and my Joker story (My Dad, the Joker) are set in different timelines; this one roughly to the Arkham series and the other story to my own; this is set almost a month after the events of the Harley Quinn's Revenge DLC for Arkham City. Also shout out to my good friend: http://darkhuntress475.deviantart.com/ who helped me with parts of this chapter that involved her OC Dusk and Edward Nigma - since she knows them best. Along with MissyxMayhem for also adding to ideas ^^


	38. C'mon And Smile

"John!" Jezebel hollered to her partner; they had just finished their latest case - an exorcism in the local supermarket, dealing with a pesky poltergeist -, "Your phone's ringing." 

As John turned to face her, Jezebel passed him his phone; she then added with her arms folded, "Why was it in my coat anyway?"

John paused, purposely avoiding her gaze; though, his answer was that of a question, he continued, "I... I didn't have the room in my coat...? I needed somewhere to put it, in case Chas called... This could be him now, you know."

  
"Don't you have Caller ID?" She raised an eyebrow, only to get a head shake from him.   
  
"No need, really. Only have limited contacts, and that comes down to: you, Chas, Zed, Zatanna and a few others for work."

"Aren't you going to answer that one?" Nodding toward his still ringing phone, Jezebel asked.   
  
"I will; if it is Chas, he can wait." John shrugged, a small, proud smirk creeping onto his lips.

"And if it's not?"   
  
"Meh. They can still wait."

"What if it's to do with 'work' as you put it." To put emphasis on her quoting an earlier statement of him, Jezebel used her fingers to put quotations around 'work'; she, once again, raised an eyebrow at him, only to receive another shrug.   
  
"Well, we're already on a case at the moment, so won't really matter, will it?"

"Oh, will you just answer the bloody thing! As for the case, we've finished it - almost-." She shoved him away from the crime scene the demon had just created, so he can answer his still vibrating phone, "So go, I'll clean up. It's getting on my nerves that thing vibrating like that."

John rolled his eyes, sliding the 'Answer' button on the touchscreen and holding the phone up to his right ear; he answered the person on the other end, "'Ello?"

"Is this John Constantine?" A worried distant voice of an elderly woman, one that trailed off every so often, answered the call.

"Yeah, that's me?" He answered; he was curious, "How'd you get my number? You don't sound like someone I've met 'fore, and I'm not the type to stick my number in the phonebook or newspaper."  
  
"I found one of your business cards at my workplace; it's the big theatre in the centre of Atlanta?" She replied.

More to himself, John sighed, "Must've left it there when I went with Gaz..."   
  
"Sorry?"   
  
"Sorry, love, me mind must've wandered off. So, what are you calling for?"   
  
"Well, I've noticed my neighbour's daughter starting to get cuts and bruising on her arms; a lot of the cuts look to be healing, or in the process of healing, but I'm a little worried. I don't reckon it could be her mother, since she is quite calm and often caring toward the neighbours. But, the girl's dad left recently, and... weird things have been happening in the house since.. A lot of the other neighbours have told me they heard weird noises coming in there, especially the girl's room. They suggested it could very well be a supernatural being, so I remembered the janitor had picked your card up, and asked him for it."   
  
"So, it's mainly for the girl's sake, am I correct?"   
  
"Yes, it doesn't seem to attack the mother."   
  
"Hmm," John rubbed his chin in thought with his left hand, "Don't worry about it, me and my partner will come and check it out. Where is it that you live?"

"Thank you. It's Newton Drive, Sandy Springs. It's just off Mt Paran Road." The woman replied, "That's not too far, is it, Mr Constantine?"   
  
"Nah, shouldn't be. Thanks for the call, Miss..."   
  
"My Name's Emily Beaconsfield, sweetie."   
  
"Thanks again, Mrs Beaconsfield." He added with a smile and once that was done, John ended the call; he was joined by Jezebel, just as he did.

"The market manager gave me the cash already... So, was it Chas?" Jezebel asked wavering the money in his face, slightly smirking; she knew it wasn't, she just liked to prove him wrong a lot of the time.   
  
"No, actually it was a new case." He frowned, looking unsure.   
  
"Ha, I told you it would be! I told it would be to do with work!" She laughed, putting the money back into the inner pocket of her coat; her laughing died down, when she noticed the serious look on John's face, "John?"  
  
"Something about this case... It doesn't seem supernatural to me...." He looked to the floor in thought.

"But, you still want to investigate, don't you?" She asked, leaning into his view; she raised both eyebrows and looked him in the eye.   
  
"Of course." He looked her back in the eye, causing her gaze to falter at the sudden eye contact.

"Are you going to tell me about this case?"   
  
"On the way." He grabbed her arm, pulling her along with him to the car, "We need to go."   
  
"Woah," She almost tripped on her feet with the pace he was going and because his legs were longer than her own; on the journey, he updated her with the case he had been assigned, to which she listened cautiously and noted down all the details that he told her in her mind.   
  
Upon entering the cul de sac where the worried neighbour - Mrs Beaconsfield - lived, the two of them saw an elderly woman stood outside her home. Her arms were folded and she was looking around for someone arriving. John came to a conclusion that she was Mrs Beaconsfield. He drove up in front of her, rolling down his window.   
  
"You Miss Beaconsfield?" He asked, leaning on his arm as he rested on the car door.  
  
"Yes, but you can just call me Emily, dearie." She gave him a sweet smile; he and Jezebel got out the car, parking it in front of Emily's house - being careful not to block the driveway.  
  
Jezebel noted that Emily didn't look too elderly, but enough to have experience of living in the area or of past events; she was the first to shake the woman's hand, being gentle with how she shook, "It's nice to meet you, Emily. I'm John's partner, Jezebel Connelly."

"Oh, he did mention of a partner on the phone. I didn't realise you were so pretty, Miss Connelly." Emily returned the handshake; her compliments caused Jezebel to blush - though she didn't know why, perhaps the fact that she still had insecurities about herself -, "Though, you're both pretty."   
  
"Oh, gee, thank you.."   
  
Shaking her hand, John asked Emily, "Is the child around here now?"   
  
"Yes. I'm actually looking after her, while her mother is out, but you are more than welcome to talk with Anastasia if you want." Emily smiled, this time at John; she started to head toward her house, "Come inside, she's playing in the front room."   
  
As they entered, the two of them were hit with the scent of mothballs and baking cookies; the usual smells a person would typically associate with the elderly. One smell that wasn't what they expected was the smell of paint, where it was coming became obvious as they strolled further through the house. It was coming from a room just off to the right of the front room.  
  
"Excuse the mess in there." She hinted at the painting room, "I was in the middle of a piece, when I noticed the car pull up into the area. I know all of the cars on this street, so when I didn't recognise yours from the end of the street, I came out."   
  
"That's understandable." Jezebel nodded, trying to get a peek at the paintings, before Emily closed the door; she didn't realise Jezebel was trying to get a look.   
  
"I did actually leave the door closed, so little Anastasia wouldn't hurt herself, but she must've gotten curious, the little dear." Emily gave another smile; as Jezebel looked around, she noticed a few minor details about Emily: she used to be or still was an avid horse-rider as there were a large amount of rosettes and trophies, she was a huge horse and dog lover on top of that - evident by the millions of statues and figures -, and she loved to read by the looks of the shelves of books, which was something Jezebel appreciated. 

"Are you married?" Jezebel asked, still looking around in awe. 

"Yes, actually, though he's out at the moment working. Never did like being in, even when it came to the retirement age." She let out a light-hearted laugh; Emily shook her head as her smile grew, "He's quite good with Anastasia too. He's practically like her grandfather, which is something similar to what she refers to him as."  
  
"Cute." John kept his focus, but still listened in the conversation; they entered the front room, which had an old fashioned look to it - though the TV looked out of time in the setting -: the big arm chairs and the sofa positioned to face the TV with the spacing in the middle, the lighting fixtures were the frosted glass type - with two smaller lamp-styled lights on each of the walls, while a bigger one hung from the middle of the ceiling. The wallpaper was white, but with the patterned bumps. More smaller shelves filled with antiques and pictures. 

The front room lead into the kitchen - which was separated by a breakfast bar -; at the back of the room resided a medium sized cage that laid rest on a chest-high wooden cabinet. Jezebel was curious and took a closer look to find a couple of tan rabbits took their habitat in there. She let out a small, 'Aw' as she saw them - their appearance much reminded her of the time Zatanna taught her to change John into one, to which she let out a small giggle -. She giggled more when they hopped over each other to grab her attention, and she gave them both a little stroke on the head. She wandered back over to Emily and John, who were stood by the breakfast bar.

"Would you two like anything before I introduce you to Anastasia?" Emily asked, "Tea, coffee, biscuits?"  
  
Politely, Jezebel declined, "Umm, no thank you."   
  
"Coffee, thanks." John nodded; his gaze was focusing on the young girl that played in the middle of the room.   
  
"Are you sure you don't want anything, sweetie?" Emily's attention was on Jezebel, "I have water and orange juice as well."   
  
"Umm, now that you mention it, some orange juice might be good." Jezebel nodded, adding a smile, before Emily goes into the kitchen.

"You can go talk to her if you want. She's very talkative to new people... well most of the time." Emily turned back to them before going into her fridge.

"Would I be alright to check the girl's house?" Jezebel asked, looking out the window at the neighbouring house, "We did actually want to look at house, before talking with Anastasia or her mum."

"Oh, well, I don't know about that... Charlie is pretty protective over her house. I guess if I went with you, she wouldn't mind as much." She answered from in the kitchen, her back turned.   
  
"Sure, that sounds good to me." Jezebel agreed.

John stayed silent as he strode over to Anastasia. He had his hands in his trench coat pockets. Anastasia was busy playing with what he guessed was a bunch ponies from an older generation of My Little Pony. He spotted a yellow pony - with pink hair - in her hand that she held very protectively onto, a lot more than the others. Though she hadn't looked up, or started a conversation with him, he had guessed she knew he was there. She continued to play, only more quietly, with her ponies. He gave a small smile, before crouching down beside her.  
  
"Mind if I join you?" He asked, with a lighter tone than normal; he felt a bit uneasy talking with this tone, as he wasn't used to being around kids or interacting with them.

She quickly nodded, handing him a turquoise pony - with light blue hair - as he sat with his legs folded on the floor; she shyly responded with, "He... He kinda reminds me of you."   
  
Looking more closely at the pony, he spotted that the pony had an American Football as a butt mark; trying to keep up the conversation, John asked with curiosity, "How so, kiddo?"

"Mainly because of how tall you are..." She finally looked at him, a small smile slowly appearing on her face.   
  
"Heh, I guess a pony with a football for a cutiemark would be pretty tall, huh?" He glanced at her, mirroring her smile with his own; she gave a few fast nods, "So, you're name's Anastasia? That's a pretty name."   
  
"Yeah," With a little more cheer to her tone, Anastasia started to lighten up the more the two of them talked, "But, you can just call me Anya, I prefer that."

"Well, Anya, it's nice to meet you. My name's John." After a short pause, he asked, "So, how old are you?"   
  
"10."

  
"Wow," He replied with as much enthusiasm as he could, "That's a pretty big number."

She shrugged, "I guess."   
  
Emily shuffled over to John, carrying his coffee on a tray - which also contained the sugar dish and a jug with milk in -, "Do you take milk or sugar in your coffee, love?"   
  
"Ah, milk thanks." He answered, smiling up at her; Jezebel stood behind him with her arms folded, smiling.   
  
Jezebel ended up sitting beside John, who handed her the pony in his hands upon them joining he and the girl. She happily took the pony and out of habit, started playing with its mane. Anya went shy again, upon the new stranger coming to sit with them.   
  
"Anya, this is Jezebel - she's my partner." John introduced Jezebel, who gave a shy wave - she didn't feel as comfortable with kids as much as John did -.  
  
"Hi, Jez-e... Jez-ee-bal?" Anya tried her hardest to pronounce Jezebel's name, only to fail.   
  
"You can just call me Jezzy, if you want." Jezebel sweetly smiled, still absentmindedly playing with the pony's hair.   
  
"Oh, okay, that might be best." Anya beamed; she looked into Jezebel's lap to see that she was playing with her pony, so gave John another - thinking he gave it her out of kindness -.

This time he got handed a yellow pony - with red hair -. This one had a sun rising with a couple of clouds as a butt mark. He frowned a little, but still took the pony.   
  
"Aw, looks like you got Sunburst." Jezebel grinned, playfully elbowing him; he shot a quick glare.  
  
"You know pony names?" Anya asked, peaking her interest.   
  
Blushing slightly, Jezebel replied with a light laugh, "Yeah, I know quite a lot actually."

"Do you know what this one is called?" Anya held up the yellow pony she had been so tightly holding; upon looking closer, Jezebel saw that the pony had 5 tulips as her cutiemark.   
  
"Oh, that's Posey. One of the new ponies in the latest My Little Pony, Fluttershy, is modeled around her." Jezebel proudly smiled to herself; John caught this and smirked, which she noted and nudged him.   
  
"Yeah!" Anya exclaimed excitedly, "Not many people know her name."

"So, is she your favourite?" Jezebel asked  
  
"Well, she was from my daddy, so I guess she could count as my favourite, but I also like Moon Shadow and Minty."   
  
"Oh, they're good choices, but Pinkie Pie is my all time favourite." Jezebel grinned; her grin grew when she saw John looked confused, which she put down to him not knowing the pony names they were mentioning.

"Miss Jezebel, I think Charlie has just come home, if you want to go check the house out?" Emily stepped in.   
  
"Oh, of course." Jezebel began to stand, "Well, Anya, it was nice talking to you, but I've got to do some work."   
  
"Aw," Anya whined, "But... Okay..."   
  
"Mr Constantine, would you mind taking care of Anya, while I show Miss Jezebel to the house?" Emily asked   
  
"Uh... Sure." John hesitated - not having much experience with children -, but agreed.

"Thank you, we'll be right back." She and Jezebel headed out the door, shutting it behind them and then headed to the house next door; where they were greeted by Anya's mum - Charlene -.   
  
John and Anya sat in silence for a couple of minutes, before Anya worriedly asked, "Are they going to talk to my mum?"   
  
A little surprised she had asked that question, he looked back at Anya with shock, "Huh? Oh... I think so, we heard that something scary was in your house."   
  
"Oh, okay..." Her voice trailed off; she soon brightened up again though, "Is that what you do, you and Jezzy, you look for scary things? Like ghosts and the boogeyman?"

"Yeah... like that." He glanced back at her, expressing a look of amusement; he went to rub the back of his neck, only to see that she flinched slightly - something he knew was a habit that he took on as a child -.

"Oh, that sounds cool." She quickly regained a smile; she hoped that he didn't notice that she did flinch, so continued the conversation, "So, is Jezzy your girlfriend?"

Blushing slightly, John answered with, "Ah, uh; no, she's not."   
  
"Not yet?"   
  
"Umm, no." He raised an eyebrow, "No, not yet."

"How long have you known her?"  
  
"Oh, little over 10 years now."   
  
"Wow, that's a long time."   
  
"Yeah, I guess it is." He let out a small laugh, his gaze looking a little distant; he quickly regained his focus, "Enough about me, though, tell me more about yourself... What's your mum like?"   
  
With the mention of her mother and being asked that question, Anya tensed up; it was another trait John recognised as a habit he had taken up himself. He continued to watch Anya a bit closer, looking for anymore traits she would have that he had - this was so he could tell if she was indeed being abused by her mother, since these were all traits and habits he had taken up when his own dad was doing the same to him, before he left at 13.

"I... I guess she's alright..." Once again, Anya's voice trailed off; she avoided his gaze, and just twisted the hair of the pony in her hands around her fingers.

Not 5 minutes later, Jezebel came back; she stood behind John again, directing her question at Anya, "Hey, Anya; mind if I borrow John?"   
  
She shook her head, shrugging her shoulders and still avoiding eye contact, "Sure."

John put the pony he had hold of to one side, before standing up and walking off to the side with Jezebel. She looked frustrated, which he very quickly caught on to, "What's up, love?"

"That house has absolutely no traces of anything supernatural or otherwise. I did spot there were more lighters than there should be in one house, and there were a couple of baseball bats. There was also a small cupboard she wouldn't let me look in." Jezebel threw her hands up throughout her reply, something she did a lot of when ranting; she paused, rubbing her right arm, "I'd hate to say it, John, but maybe it's actually the mother causing those cuts and bruises." 

"Certainly seems that way." John's gaze was between Jezebel and Anya - trying to keep an eye on the little girl -; he thought for a moment, "Hold on for a sec, I have an idea." 

Before Jezebel was able to say anything, John was standing back over by Anya; he had a soft stern look on his face, "Hey, kiddo, you ready to go home?"

He immediately noticed the look of fear in her eyes, and how she nervously asked, "Can't I stay here a bit longer?"

"Why? Is something going on at home?" He asked, crouching down to her level.

"Umm.... not with ghosts or anything like that..." Anya's eyes were beginning to cloud with tears; they wavered, being evident she was going to cry.

"Is it your mum; is she hurting you?" John asked, pausing to see if Anya would reply; when she didn't he continued, "Anya, you need to tell us: is your mum hurting you?"   
  
Jezebel walked over, placing a hand on John's shoulder; she crouched down beside him, and with a much gentler tone, asked Anya, "Anya, sweetie; you won't be in trouble if you tell us the truth. If anything, it is your mum who is in the wrong for doing that to you. But, we need to know for sure, if she is or not."

"Anya," With more softness in his tone, John placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder, "I'll let you in on a secret: my dad used to do the same thing. He used to hurt me, and I couldn't do much about it. I was too afraid to tell anyone about it, because I was scared they wouldn't care. Now, I let it get to me and let it eat at me inside. But, you know what?"   
  
"What?" She sniffled  
  
"You don't have to feel that way. You don't have to end up that way because you have us. We care, that's why we're still here. Emily cares, that's why she called us." John, removing his hand from her shoulder, now gave a small smile, "You're not alone."   
  
"She won't be taken to jail, will she? She's the only person I got.... My daddy left, and I don't know where he went." Anya cried, at last looking the two occult detectives in the eyes.

Jezebel looked over at John, to which she saw a look of pure anger for Anya's mum on his face; he excused himself before heading out toward Charlie, telling Emily to head back into look after Anya. Jezebel chased after him, unsure of what he would do. She was coming up the drive of the neighbouring house, but could hear John from the front door of Emily's house. He was having a stern 'talk' with Anya's mum, Charlene. Charlene, on the other hand, did not look like she was taking his talk very serious.

"You know, you're fucking stupid if you're letting a man let you do that to your daughter! You fucking irresponsible woman!" John's hands were flailing around as he shouted in the face of this woman.

She, unfortunately, continued to ignore his rants; she looked him over, from head to toe, with a large grin on her face, "You know, you're quite handsome, aren't you?"   
  
This, in no way, put John off his task; he continued his rant, "You really think you can flirt your way out? No. Don't even try that. You are lucky enough that your daughter still trusts you. You're lucky she still loves you. You know, what she said? She asked if we didn't tell on you, because she didn't want you to be arrested!"

"Hmm~," She still ignored his rants, leaning more into him, only to be pushed off him; Jezebel heard her comments, and glared at Anya's mother, "Oh, honey, you look too tense. You should... lighten up a little."

"Fuck off." He pushed her off again, with a bit more force this time; he shoved her against the wall, pinning her shoulder in place, and pointing a finger in her face, "You are lucky enough no one has reported you. Why they chose to think it was a supernatural being instead of you, is a big enough question in itself. But, one thing they did get right was calling me, because now they know it is not at all supernatural hurting that poor girl. And if I hear she's being hurt again, well, let me tell you: I have no problem making it clear I have problems with that. I have no problem with punching you."

The sheer look of outrage in John's eye now clear to her, Charlene saw how serious he was being with her, and it frightened her. He looked down into her eyes, shaking his head in both annoyance and disbelief. He removed his hand from her shoulder, but not before shoving her into the wall slightly.

"You disgust me." His grimace matched his words; he really was disgusted with this woman, especially since the girl still felt for her.

He walked off, heading back toward Emily's house; Jezebel was already stood by the door by the time he had finished. He closed the front door behind him and Jezebel, before going to the front room to talk with Anya again. He calmed himself, which Jezebel helped a little.

"You okay?" She asked, getting a nod from him; he headed back into the front room, seeing Anya still playing.

"John!" Anya cheered as he strolled in; she sat up, "Did my mum say anything?"   
  
"Well, she didn't have a lot to say when I was finished shouting at her... But, enough of that." He went into his coat, and pulled out one of his business cards - which was crumpled in places and had torn edges -; he handed it to her, giving a slightly hard-shelled expression, "I need you to call the number on this card, if your mum ever tries to hurt you again. Do you understand? Just ask for me, if you don't think it is, and say 'it's Anya' and no matter what, I shall come get you. Okay?"

"Okay." Anya nodded, taking the card from his hand.

"Good lass." He smiled; he then turned to Emily, "I want you to do the same, if ever you see her with new cuts or bruises. You still have my number right?"

"Yes, I think so. If not, I shall note the number down." Emily replied, also giving John a sweet smile.

"Good. Well, with that, we'll be going." John shook Emily's hand as they headed for the door; Jezebel had done the same, soon after.

"Wait," Anya, who still had hold of the yellow pony, hugged John; this surprised him a little, but he hugged her back, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He smiled; Jezebel looked back toward the two of them, only to receive a hug from Anya as well.

 

"I wanted to give you this, Jezzy." Anya handed Jezebel a small light pink pony - with darker light pink hair and white spots as a cutiemark -; Jezebel smiled and took the pony from her, "I know it's not Pinkie Pie, but I only really have the 1st generation and Cotton Candy was pretty close to Pinkie, so I thought that would suit her."

"Oh, gee, thank you, Anya. You don't have to do that." Jezebel smiled; she and John waved as they climbed into the car.

Anya and Emily wave back, before she and John headed back home to the lodge. Jezebel flipped the pony in her hands. She twirled the mane around her fingers most of the way home. John, though, sat in silence. She just guessed he was focusing on driving. What was really happening, John was thinking back to when his own dad hurt him. Back to his childhood. He remembered so clearly what his dad did to him. How every night would be worse than the last. How his dad came home drunk almost every night, and the anger he put onto John for something he could not have helped. John surprised himself, in honesty, that he survived the first few months with his dad considering he was only just a baby. John still blamed himself for his mother's death, and he thought how right his dad was at times for putting the blame on him.

Without realising it, John's hands had gripped tighter onto the steering wheel; something Jezebel picked up on, but didn't think much of it. She put it down to stressing over what they were to do next. When they got back to the lodge, John went straight to his desk. Jezebel took out the money they had earned from the previous case - before Anya's -, and placed it on the desk.

From over on the couch, Zed called, "Hey, Jezzy, whilst he's busy with paperwork, why don't you join us for a film?"   
  
Jezebel looked back at John; he had his head in his hands, but looked like he was reading through something, so for the time being she left him. She flopped herself down next to Zed, throwing her coat over the back of the couch before she did. She, Chas and Zed settled down for a movie. But, not even 5 minutes in, Jezebel still felt something was wrong with John.

John was sat at his desk - still with his head in his hands, not moved one bit -; the thing was, he wasn't reading at all. In fact, he was thinking. Over-thinking. He was thinking on the latest case and why it affected him so much: his dad. He still blamed himself for his mother's death. He felt, at that moment, like his dad was right to abuse him for what he did to his mother. Every sensible reason he came to over why his mum dying wasn't his fault, he quickly dismissed it, throwing the reason away in his mind. He failed to notice that petite tears were streaming down his cheek. Ones that were too light to even realise were falling. When he spotted a couple of tears had dropped on to the paper in front of him, staining it, he pressed a hand to his cheek. He quickly wiped them away, feeling slightly angered and ashamed with himself. He also hoped no one had seen him do that.

Back over on the couch, instead of watching the movie, Jezebel watched her partner. She watched John raise a hand to his cheek, but she didn't see why. She then saw that the hand he used went through his hair. A habit she knew all too well was what he did when he was over-thinking, when he was feeling depressed with himself. She stood up, receiving questioning looks from Zed and Chas, and she slowly approached John from behind.

Hugging him, she asked with worry, "John, are you alright?"

He replied with, "I'm fine" in a sad, but steady voice; he didn't turn to face her at all and this worried her further.

"John, what's really the matter; I know that tone."

"Nothing.... I... I just want to be alone right now..." His voice cracked slightly hinting to Jezebel that he was on the verge of tears; something he didn't want to do in front of anyone, let alone her.

Jezebel thought on it for a second; thinking about the method she would tend to use when he was in need of cheering up. Hugging him a bit tighter, she began to sing 'The Smile Song' from My Little Pony. This method was something she often did for him when he was down and depressed. He knew about it being from My Little Pony, but that didn't bother him much. He had previously found out via the first time Jezebel had sung it to him. He was curious to where it had come from, so searched a couple of the lyrics that he could remember from the song, only to find it was from there. What made him not mind, Jezebel was unsure, but he honestly didn't mind as long as it made her happy too.

Though finding it difficult to sing in the same high pitch as the character that originally sung the song in the show, Jezebel continued to sing; she leaned around him, so she could see his face. Slowly, but surely a grin appeared on John's face. She mirrored his grin with her own, straightening her back more and hugging more from behind again.

"Now, that's the John Constantine we know!" She cheered, "See, you do love the party pony's songs really!" 

"Nah, it's more rather your flat singing that brightens my mood." John smirked.

Shocked, but jokingly, she replied with, "I am highly offended by that comment, Mr Constantine."

"And you probably offend that pink pony you watch all the time every time you do sing that song..." John continued to smirk; he pulled Jezebel in front of him, to snuggle tackle her causing them both to fall off the chair, "C'mere you."

From on his lap, Jezebel tried her hardest to stop giggling, only for John to end up catching her left side - which was one of the many places she was ticklish -, so caused her to end up laughing more hysterically. Out of instinct, her legs kicked - actually almost kicking John in the chin. Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes, due to how much she was laughing. He managed to calm her down, keeping her sat in his lap.   
  
"Maybe you can make it up to Pinkie by naming your kid after Pinkamina." Jezebel joked, giving a playful elbow nudge into his chest.

"Uh, I'd rather not..." He chuckled; he thought about the series for a couple of seconds, "Wait, what does the name 'Pinkamina' have to do with Pinkie, other than having the word 'pink' in there?"

She giggled at his confusion, "Pinkamina is Pinkie's first real name."

"Oh..." He half-smirked, "Well, yours would suit the name Derpy, especially if they take after you; you can pretty 'derpy' at times."

"Hey!" Jezebel pouted, folding her arms, "It's not my fault, I... I get a little clumsy at times."

"No, but it is adorable." He continued to give the half smirk, hugging her a bit tighter, and then loosening his grip on her, "The name Fluttershy would definitely suit one of yours too."

"Heh, I guess so." She smiled, "But, I reckon Thunderlane would be another good one for you."   
  
"Or Allonsy?" He smiled knowingly  
  
Confused, she looked at him with her head tilted, "How so?"

"Oh, maybe Dr Whooves says it in the 100th episode...?" John continued the knowing smile

"Wait, you watched the episode without me?!"

"Mayy-be." He avoided her gaze, as she had turned to face him. 

"John!" She whined, "You're meant to wait until Saturday. That's our MLP day!"

"Hey, I thought you would be impressed I was willing to watch it on my own." He shrugged, "The British sounding horse actually makes a good impression considering Peter New voices him and not David Tennant."   
  
"Heh, I guess you are my knight in Shining Armor..." She smirked, lightly elbowing him again, "Get it?"

Frowning, but with the corner of his mouth turning up into a grin, John sighed; he smiled at the small, subtle reference he made, "I got it... Love, you should not tell jokes, but you really are a Rarity."   
  
Jezebel was about to ask about what happened earlier with him being sat at the desk, when she realised he had actually made a reference to her favourite show, "Wait, did you just make a reference then?"

"That I did." He proudly smirked; she squealed happily.

"Aw, I'm so proud of you, John; you make a little Flash Sentry, don't you?" She winked.

"Yeah... Don't do that, Love." He chuckled, before pulling the now pouting Jezebel.  


	39. The Christmas Party

In the background, the Christmas hit 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' (Mariah Carey) played on the radio - as most those type of songs did around this time of the year -; Jezebel and her friends were prepping for tomorrow, Christmas. Due to volunteering, she was in charge of making a few treats for Jinxy's party. She didn't realise it, but she was failing. Singing quietly to herself, she struggled with the large dough ball in front of her. It stuck to her fingers and the rolling pin she was using as she tried to flatten it out. Every so often she would sigh to herself, before bunching it back up and trying again.

The song was almost halfway through, when John snuck into the room. He noticed Jezebel singing to herself. He smiled, folding his arms, as he strolled up behind her. Standing behind her, he started to sing along loudly with the song himself. This, in fact, almost caused her to throw the rolling pin in the air along with a small squeak. Luckily, John's hand went to hers, the one that was holding it. He laughed lightly, the song now finishing.

"John! You prick, that wasn't funny!" She gave him a light-hearted slap on his chest; she folded her arms, rolling pin still in hand, and pouted as he continued to laugh.

"It was from my point of view." He smirked, calming down; he looked down at what she was originally doing, "Ya know, rolling that would be a lot easier if you put flour on the rolling pin and on the dough?"

She looked away, biting her lower lip, "I knew that..."

He raised an eyebrow as she went to grab the flour out of the cabinets; he folded his arms, "Uh-huh. Wouldn't you have had it out if you did?"

"That's your opinion." She pouted, trying to reach for the flour on her tiptoes; John reached over her, easily grabbing what she needed.

"Here." He smirked again, holding out the flour for her to take, "You want this?"

"Shut up." She snatched it; she started sprinkling small handfuls of it on the tabletop, the dough and along the rolling pin.

Over her shoulder, John watched as he knew she wasn't the best of cooks (but she also wasn't the worst). He leaned over her, his hands behind his back and resisting the urge to interrupt to take over. Jezebel kept her focus on her baking, but the pressure of him standing, breathing down her neck was getting on her nerves.

"Is there any particular reason you are stood behind me and observing me?" She turned, raising an eyebrow, and folded her arms.

"Welll..." He grinned, rolling his sleeves up; he gently shoved her to the side, so he was now in front of the baking station, "You should really, maybe, be a little more gentle with the dough."

"Oh, so you're a baker now, huh?" She tilted her head; John smirked, letting out a light laugh.

"Love, that sarcasm is getting a lot better. You living here paying off then?" He continued what he was doing, demonstrating what he had meant.

"Funny." She looked down at what he was doing, becoming slightly agitated he had taken over; she whined, "Joohhnn! I was meant to be doing this!"

"Yeah, well, I don't think Jinxy's guests want to end up with food poisoning on Christmas." He smiled to himself; unfortunately, Jezebel didn't take too kindly to that comment, so she punched him in the arm, "Ow. Ya know, when you want, your punches can hurt."

"I'm not that bad of a cook, John." She pouted, and then grinned, "And, I know, but that was one of my weak ones.... Ya wuss."

"Heh, guess I had that one coming?" He rubbed the arm she punched with his free hand.

"Yeah, you did." She continued to grin.

"What was you trying to bake anyway?" He stopped with rolling out the dough.

"I... I was going to make Welsh Cakes..." She shrugged.

"Do you know how?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Umm... No."

Sighing, he knelt down and went into a cupboard a few doors down from where he was originally stood; going inside it, he pulled out a cookbook, "Chas always keeps a few on hand, and I'm sure he won't mind."

"Do you know how to bake?" She asked, curious.

"Well, I know better than you, don't I?" He grinned, standing; he placed the book on the counter and started to scan through it. He stopped at the right page: Welsh Cakes, "Ha, knew it was in this one."

Pouting, Jezebel stuck her hand in the bag of flour; she took a bit of it between her fingers, and then flicked it at John. In an attempt to seem innocent, she looked away and bit her lip. He looked up and glared at her, though she couldn't take him seriously due to the flour on his nose and chin, so she ended up laughing. He grabbed the tea towel from over the sink, before wiping his face. He glanced at her, and at the jug of water, grinning slightly. Seeing him grinning, she stopped laughing abroughtly.

"Don't you dare!" She started to back away.

"Hey, it's only fair I get to throw something at you as well." He grinned, looking rather malicious as he stepped closer.   
  


"No, back!" She picked up - what she thought would make a good weapon, but was really - a spoon; she aimed it at him.

"Oh, I'm so scared." He laughed, continuing to get closer with the jug of water, "That's a spoon, love. What ya gonna do... spoon me to death?"

"Ha, that wasn't well thought out was it?" She smirked, only to get the water thrown at her, "John!!"

He threw the jug to the floor as he ran out of the kitchen with Jezebel chasing him with her spoon-weapon; her white shirt was wet-through, and her black bra could be seen. Zed was sat relaxing on her usual spot in her armchair in the corner, sketching, when John came running through. Not long after, Jezebel following with a furious look on her face. Zed shook her head, with a small smile, as he leapt onto the couch. He didn't have much time to hop over it, before Jezebel grabbed his ankle to pull him back down. She sat on him, sitting on his chest, well, more rather his side.

"Is it funny now? Huh?" She laughed, attempting to hug him; she made sure her wet shirt got him wet too, all the while he was laughing.

Zed laughed, lowering her sketchbook only slightly, "You two kids done?"

Jezebel sat up on him, sitting on his chest with her legs hanging off the couch; before she could respond to her, John used Jezebel's most common weakness. He used her ticklish sides against her, causing her to kick out wildly and giggle. Unfortunately, in her natural reaction to being tickled, Jezebel waving her arms and legs around in an attempt to free herself actually caused her to accidentally knee him in the stomach.

John gasped, quickly stopping and sitting up, "Holy shit! You almost hit me in the bollocks!"   
  


Giggling, Jezebel folded her arms and turned away from him, while trying to keep a serious face, "Well, you knew of the dangers of doing that. Your fucking fault."

"You know she's right." Zed interrupted, continuing with her sketches, "If you had behaved, you wouldn't have had that problem."

Jezebel proudly grinned, "Thank you, Zed."

"What?!" John shook his head, sounding rather dumbfounded that both girls were blaming him, "Hey, she started it!"

"You were the one to come in and disturb my baking." Jezebel leaned against him, grinning.

Zed, turning around, asked with shock, "You were trying to bake?"

"Ha, see, I'm not the only one who thinks you can't bake!" John laughed; he fell on to his back, lying on the couch.

"Hmph." Jezebel flopped backward, leaning against the back of the couch; she was now positioned over John's legs, "I'm not the worst cook, you know."

In advance to John or Zed detesting or being able to make a comment, Chas came through the door; he had boxes piled high in his arms, almost actually blocking his view. From Jezebel's point of view, from what she could see, it didn't look as if Chas struggled at all as he closed the door with one hand. He had let someone - unseen to her eyes - enter before he did close the door. He then lead the way down the stairs, revealing that his daughter, Geraldine, followed closely behind. She too had boxes in her arms, though not as many as her father.

She soon put down what she was holding by the bottom of the staircase, upon seeing Zed. She ran up to her in curiosity to see what she was drawing. Zed looked up slightly, smiling sweetly when she saw the young girl's face.

"Hey, sweetie; it's good to see you." She put down her pencil on top of sketchbook, which she lowered onto her lap, to give Geraldine a hug.

"Hi Zed." Geraldine giggled, looking over Zed's arm, "What were you drawing?"

"Oh, just practising a few things." She smiled; Geraldine picked up the sketchbook to have a closer look to see Zed was drawing a lamb.

"It's cute." She smiled, receiving a thank you from Zed.

"Oi, what about me?" John sat up slightly, still with Jezebel over his legs; he opened his arms, "Where's my 'hello'?"

"Uncle John!" Geraldine giggled as she ran over to him; she jumped into his arms, and then on to his chest, receiving an 'oof' from John as she did.

He smiled, as Geraldine squirmed to get comfortable; she sat next to Jezebel, who she also cuddled, "Hey, sweetheart."

"Hey, Jezzy." She and Jezebel lean back again, still sitting on John, "Have you and uncle John been fighting more ghosts and monsters?" 

"Yup, and we beat them every time." Jezebel beamed proudly.

"I am still here, you know?" John squirmed from underneath the two of them; he was beginning to lose feeling in his legs thanks to Jezebel being sat on them, "And Belle, love, you're kinda killing my legs. Mind getting off?"

"But, I'm comfy." She groaned, throwing her head back against the couch.

"C'mon, we've got stuff to do." He attempted to shift the two girls that sat on his legs and chest, only he didn't get anywhere; he looked over to the tree, "I thought you wanted to decorate the tree?"

"What? Why haven't you done that yet?" Geraldine asked, looking up at Jezebel.

"Well, we were waiting for you to come round, and I was baking..." Jezebel rubbed the back of her neck.

He was putting the gifts that he and his daughter were carrying under the tree; Chas turned to face them, a look of surprise on his face, "You were going to bake?"

Jezebel glared at John when she heard him snigger, trying to hold back laughter; she looked back over at Chas, "Yes, I was. I was trying to bake some treats for Jinxy's party tomorrow."

"What was you trying to bake?"

"Welsh Cakes."

"Do you know how?"

"No she doesn't; I already asked her that myself." John stepped in, smirking; he leaned his head back against the arm of the couch, his arms behind his head.

"So, let me get this straight." Chas stood up, folding his arms and facing Jezebel, "You were going to cook in my kitchen, and bake something you don't know how?"

"Nooo..." Jezebel shrunk in her seat, biting her lower lip; she didn't like being told off.

"Aw, love; he's very much sounding like your dad right now.." John smirked, only to receive a death glare from her; he quickly shut up, keeping the grin on his face.

"Shut up, John." She folded her arms and threw herself back against the couch.

"I'll go make those treats then." Chas strode toward the kitchen to finish the job that Jezebel started, rolling up his sleeves, "Keep an eye on Geraldine, John."

"Daddy, I don't need keeping an eye on." Geraldine copied Jezebel: folding her arms, pouting and flopping back against the couch; Chas didn't hear his daughter's protest due to already being in the kitchen.

"Can you two get off me now? I seriously can't feel my legs." John shifted slightly, though not getting far.

"As long as you actually help with decorating the tree." Jezebel gave a small smile, before looking over at him with huge puppy-dog eyes.

"No... No... Don't use that look on me." John gave her a stern look, but due to her looking at him with the look, it didn't take long for him cave in, "Fine. Get up then."  
  
"C'mon, Geraldine; John's gonna help us with the tree." Jezebel grinned; she and Geraldine jumped up.

"Yay!" The young girl cheered; she attempted to pull John up herself, "Come on, uncle John!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." John shook his legs in an attempt to wake them up from being sat on for so long, "Remember, my legs are still dead from you two."

"Shake it off." Jezebel smirked, as she pulled him to his feet; she managed to achieve her task, only to have both her and John almost fall over again.

"Well, if only you were tall enough to reach the top of the tree yourself, or to do the lights." John gave a sly smile; he stretched, shaking off the numbness in his legs.

"Now, that isn't fair." Jezebel pouted at him; then she smiled as he passed by her, "Anyway, you're a lanky bastard, so you can manage it."

"I'm not that tall, you know?" John turned back to her; she handed him the box of decorations, and got out the lights.

"Here. Do the lights first." Jezebel handed them to him, after taking the box from him; he gave a half smile, raising his eyebrow, before taking the lights from her.

He stepped up on the small step-ladder and he started from the top with wrapping the Christmas lights around the tree. It took little over five minutes for John to do this - with the tree being rather big - and he had to test the lights to make sure they actually worked. Upon plugging them in, the room was filled with colourful lights; he turned the lights off, once checking all of the bulbs worked. Jezebel and Geraldine were looking through the decorations box to see which ones they would have on the tree and where. Most of Geraldine's interest went to was a pine cone Santa.

"Ooo, I like this one!" She held it up by the glittery string, causing it to twirl slightly.

"Maybe we should do the tinsel first." Jezebel smiled slightly; she picked up the tinsel and handed the handfuls to John for him to do it, "Here ya go."

Raising an eyebrow, John took hold of the tinsel Jezebel had just given him, "Gee, thanks."

Chas' head poked around the door frame of the kitchen; he looked toward Zed, seeing that John and the other two girls were busy with the tree, "Zed, mind lending a hand?"

"Sure," Zed set down her sketchbook to the side of the armchair, before standing and heading to the small kitchen; she helped out in the kitchen, helping Chas to cook, but being in and out of the rooms to check up on John and the girls to see how the tree was coming along (since Chas was one of those cooks that basically took over everything).

When not needed in the kitchen, Zed would help John, Jezebel and Geraldine with the tree. She ended up going back and forth between the rooms, as Chas would call her back every now and again. While letting John and Jezebel decorate the tree with Geraldine, Zed got the idea to sketch the cute scene. It took her just over 10 minutes, but Zed's final sketch looked almost like a black and white photograph of the scene that had taken place in front of her. Geraldine saw her sketching and went over to take a look, leaving John and Jezebel to finish off decorating.

Subsequently to them finishing the tree off, Jezebel stood beside Geraldine, behind Zed and looked at the sketch; she gasped, "Wow, Zed; you've definitely improved since I first met you. It looks just like a photo."

"Heh, thanks, Jezzy." Zed smiled, finishing off the sketch with a little bit more shading; she showed them the finished product a lot more clearly, shifting the sketchbook into their view, "What do you think?"

"Are you going to hang that up?" Geraldine asked, her hands resting on the arm of the chair as she leaned on them to get a better look at the drawing.

"Umm, I didn't think about that." Zed answered, taking a proper look at the drawing for herself.

"I think you should." Jezebel replied with a friendly smile, and then laughed, "It's proof John can do nice things for other people."

"That's true!" Zed laughed, "Maybe I should then."

"Hey!" John stepped in, coming over to see what the girls were looking at, "I can be nice and I do stuff for other people all the time."

Jezebel looked at him skeptically; she raised an eyebrow, trying to hold back the smile and look serious - failing -, "Really?"

"Yes. I do it all the time."

"For who?"

"You, for instance." He smirked, looking down at Jezebel, who looked back up at him in confusion.

"What? When did you last do something nice for me?" She folded her arms; she smirked as she attempted to look serious again.

"Well, I did try to save everyone from being poisoned by your baking. There was also earlier, I... I bought you a present... Actually a few."

"Aw, John." She approached him, outstretching her arms and making a grabbing motion with her fingers, "Gimme a hug."

John tried to get away from the smaller person, "No."

She was much too fast for him, and ended up tightly hugging him; she giggled at the displeased face he was giving her. She held his arms at his sides, until he gave in. He hugged her back, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

He rolled his eyes, a small smile at the corner of his lips; he raised his arms, to indicate she could let go, "Can you let go now?"

"No." She giggled, "It's cold and you're warm, so yeah. Plus you did kinda wet my blouse, so you deserve it."

"Is it still wet?" He smirked to himself.

"Yes, actually it is. A little." She frowned up at him; she frowned further when he laughed, "It's not funny; I am actually cold."

"Go change into your PJs then, love." He smiled, his arm going around her shoulder.

"I wouldn't need to if you didn't chuck that water at me." She grumbled; he chuckled and pulled her closer to him, causing her to almost trip over her feet, so she put her hands onto his chest. Blushing, she pushed herself away from him, "I guess I shall go get into my PJs.... Geraldine, want me to show you where your room is?"

"Yeah," Geraldine grabbed her stuff, and ran after Jezebel, who was heading upstairs to the ground level; she showed the young girl that her room was right next door to Jezebel's.

"If you need anything, I'm right next door. Just knock before entering."

"Okay; thank you, Jezzy." Geraldine closed the door, as Jezebel had started walking toward her room; she was going to get settled for her stay.

It didn't take Geraldine long to get her belongings set up where she wanted them and how she wanted them set up; she took about 5 minutes, and she noticed that Jezebel hadn't come into check up on her. Geraldine was about to walk back to see her dad, but decided to check up on Jezebel. She knocked on Jezebel's bedroom door.   
  
"Jezebel?" She called; not getting an answer, Geraldine knocked a couple more times, and called to Jezebel, before knocking once more and entering.

When she entered, Geraldine saw Jezebel sprawled across the bed. She was asleep or looked to be trying. So, she went back out the room and left the sleeping Jezebel. She went back downstairs - now in her nightgown and holding a teddy bear - to sit on the couch with John and Chas. She sat between them, snuggling herself up to her father. John leaned forward more, and looked behind Geraldine.

"Where's Jezebel?" He asked.

"She's sleeping." Geraldine replied, taking the cup of hot chocolate from her dad as he passed it to her; she took a few sips, careful not to burn herself.

John let out a light laugh, "Must've worn herself out."

"Sleep doesn't sound too bad, right now." Zed yawned as she began standing; she stretched before heading to her room, "Night guys."

"Night, Zed." John and Chas waved her goodnight.

"Chas, mate, you know what I just noticed?" John frowned, causing Chas to look at him, "Belle's gone to sleep now, she'll be awake for the rest of the night...."

"You mean if she wakes up?"

"It's Christmas. Of course she's going to wake up."

An hour and a half later, while Geraldine had just fallen asleep, Jezebel did just that. She started to wake up, being a little too excited that she - or rather her body did - realised it was Christmas the next morning. Chas was carrying his daughter to bed, as Jezebel came out of her room; she scratched her head, and yawned, before running past him with excitement, adding a little giggle. 

She leapt over the back of the couch; she scared John shitless as she landed next to him. She was over excited, and he could tell by the way her eyes shone in the light. He could also tell by the way she giggled a lot more than usual.

"John.." She leaned against him, tilting her head back to look up at him, "John, guess what day it is tomorrow?"

"Lemme guess... Halloween?" He sarcastically replied; he smirked when he saw she looked like she would burst out laughing.

"Noooo, you silly sausage." She laughed; she began to shake his arm and bounced on the couch, "It's Christmas!"   
  
He stuck a finger in his ear and made it look like he was clearing it out, "You tryna deafen me?"

"No." She innocently smiled, before she burst out laughing; it didn't take long, but John ended up going to bed and telling Jezebel to go as well - which took a bit of effort on his part due to her wanting to stay up -.

Christmas day started with a rather excited Jezebel waking up extra early; she wanted to make sure John's presents were under the Christmas tree they - or rather she - had placed in the middle of the living area of the lodge a few nights earlier, before he woke up. She carefully placed them, noticing that there were already some more under there for her from John, Chas and Zed, as well as some for the others.

Whispering to herself, she looked them over, "Ooo, more presents."

Eagerly, she went to John's room, sneaking in; she tip-toed up to the side of the bed he slept on, poking at his nose.

"John... John, wake up!" She whispered; he slowly opened his eyes, giving her an unimpressed, tired look.

He rolled over to the other side of the bed, his back turned to her; with a drained voice, he said, "No, it's too early... Go back to sleep..." 

"But, it's Christmas, John!" Jezebel jumped on the bed, and leaned closer to him, "Don't you wanna see what you got?" 

"No, I wanna go back to sleep, and you should do the same..." 

"C'mon John!" She shook him, causing him to fall off the bed, with the quilt following since it was wrapped around him; he glared up at her from the floor, as she innocently sat crossed legged on his bed, still in her pajamas.

"You know you could possibly get away with murder with that smile."

She grinned, as she jumped off the bed and began to walk out the room, "Oh, I know."

John eventually decided to get up, getting dressed into an old shirt to cover his top half; he thought Jezebel looked like an excited child. He made them a cup of hot chocolate each. She ran over to a poorly wrapped present. It was wrapped in red tissue paper, and a green bow wrapped around it.   
  
"What is that?" John laughed raising an eyebrow as she grabbed it and ran back to him with it.   
  
"It's for you." She held it out for him to take; he set down his cup on the coffee table, before taking the present with a sigh. She eagerly smiled as she watched him open it.   
  
He held it up in front of him: a red sweater with a reindeer on it. He frowned, "Really, Jezebel?"   
  
"See, now you have something to keep you warm in the lodge." Jezebel smiled excitedly.  
  
"But, you know I hate these things?! They make me hot and sweaty."   
  
"But, I made it especially for you." Her eyes grew twice their size; she giving her best puppy-dogs eyes, made John roll his eyes with a small smile.   
  
"Fine, but I'm only wearing this thing in the lodge when no one else is around." He put on the sweater, showing it was just his size, "Well?"   
  
"Brilliant! It fits!" Jezebel exclaimed.   
  
"Now, are you gonna open yours?"   
  
"Of course I am! What kind of question is that?" Jezebel sprinted over to her pile; she rummaged through them, organising them by size and picking up the smaller ones first.

By the time she came to the middle sized ones, Zed had woken up, "Morning, guys."

Zed was almost knocked over by Geraldine rushing past her; the young girl ran to her pile of presents under the tree. Chas soon followed after her - obviously being awoken by his 10 year old daughter - as he yawned making his way over to the couch, where he flopped down. She spotted a callosal one, just for her. Unfortunately, her dad wanted her to open some of the smaller presents first. She huffed, but that soon went away when she realised she didn't just have that one present.

The four of them (Chas, Jezebel, John and Zed) waited for Geraldine to finish opening all of her presents - which honestly didn't take her very long as she just went from one present to the next after unwrapping each -, before they opened their own. Using Jezebel's handy organised system of the piles, they were able to tell which presents belonged to who. The last present that Jezebel came to was a nicely wrapped box - that had a tag claiming it was from John -.

She opened it to reveal a very nice red dress inside; she gasped, "John, what did you get this for?"   
  
"Well, you wanted something to wear today, right? There yer go."

  
"What are you waiting for, Jezzy?" Zed exclaimed excitedly, "Go put it on!"

"Let the girl wake up, Zed." John interrupted, before Jezebel could get up.

"John, are you serious?" Jezebel laughed, "I've been awake the longest here!"

He shrugged, before she ran off; he frowned, "I know that."

Around 2 in the afternoon, Jezebel and John started to get ready properly for Jinxy's party; Jezebel thought that this was the perfect opportunity to wear the dress that John had gotten her. She wore this with her green scarf she had not long bought and had been wanting to wear. She wore her hair in a half up/ half down style. John wore a black blazer over a red waistcoat and white shirt; he also wore, along with this, a green tie that he tucked into his waistcoat. Zed joined them as well, wearing jeans and a white blouse, that she wore with a belt. While the three of them went to the party, Chas spent Christmas with Geraldine.

On the car journey to the hotel that Jinxy was hosting the party at, John kept glancing at Jezebel; she had her head laid back against the headrest, and was focusing on her breathing due to not liking big crowds. He smiled to himself.   
  
While keeping his focus on the road, John commented, "You know, you look really good in that dress, love."

He glanced back over at her to see that she was blushing slightly; he smirked. She turned her head away from him. Jezebel bit her cheek, and raised a skeptical eyebrow. His gaze went back to the road.

"No. I don't." She folded her arms, still feeling rather skeptical over his comment.

"You really do." With a small smile, he glanced back over at her; he smirked to himself, making a proud looking expression, "You could possibly get away with murder twice as much with both wearing that dress and the smile you gave me early this morning. Cute enough to get away with it."

"I'm. Not. Cute." She shot a glare at him, to which he caught; he chuckled, shaking his head slightly, "But, don't think for a second I won't get away with murder."

"I don't doubt that, lass." He raised an eyebrow, still smirking.

"But, you on the other hand; you look both like a dork and a cinnamon roll." She grinned to herself; she blushed slightly, realising she had said that out loud, "As in you look cute too."

That smirk he had been wearing for last few minutes, it disappeared; he shook his head, "I don't do cute, and who are you calling a dork?"

"You, 'love'." She mocked his accent; she gave him a smug smirk.

From the back seat, Zed smirked; she had been watching the two of them exchange their 'insults' (if one could call them that at times), and announced, "You know, you two are adorable. You remind me of an old married couple, that's for sure."

She giggled when she realised her comment had made both of them blush; even more so when both parties tried to deny her comment. They looked in opposite directions, avoiding the other's gaze: Jezebel out of the passenger side window, while John's gaze was on the road. Done out of fear of the other finding out their feelings for them. Zed silently shook her head, a large grin on her face at how red the two of them were. The rest of the journey, the car ride there was in silence, and only the radio was played.

As they pulled in the hotel car park, Jezebel was the first to spot Jinxy excitedly greeting all of her guests; it amazed her at how quickly she went from one person to the next, without so much as a breathing break. Before John could fully park the car, Jinxy had already spotted them and was hovering over it. She waited to the side, so she wouldn't end up injured.

"Jezzy!" Jinxy immediately hugged Jezebel as she exited the car; she squeezed Jezebel almost tight enough to squeeze the lungs out of her.

"Hey... Jinxy." She said between breaths; John chuckled at her, causing Jinxy to look his way, making him a slight bit terrified.

"John!" Jinxy hugged him a bit tighter considering he wasn't as 'delicate' as Jezebel; he lifted his arms up, not feeling as comfortable - and actually very awkward - hugging her.

"Uh... Can you let go now?" John raised an eyebrow; she let go, but went straight to Zed, who didn't mind as much as John did.

"Hey Zed, I don't know you as much." Jinxy smiled, "But, you seem nice."

"Thank you, Jinxy." Zed sweetly smiled, hugging her back.

"If it starts to feel like you can't breath, that's normal with her." John pointed out, smirking slightly.

"I don't hug that tightly... Do I?" Jinxy went back to hugging both John and Jezebel; she smiled up at them, being only an inch shorter than Jezebel.   
  
"Yes. Very much." John frowned over being hugged again; he slowly parted Jinxy away from him and Jezebel.

Entering the party, Jezebel spotted that dress up reindeer antlers and Santa hats were being given out; she left John to chat with Zed and Jinxy. She grabbed a Santa hat for herself and a pair of antlers. She ran up to him and shoved them on top of John's head. This proved to be a challenge in itself due to how tall he was compared to her.

She exclaimed, "Merry, Christmas, John!"

He gave her an unimpressed look; he went to take them off, only for Jezebel to stop him, "Belle, sweetheart, I don't think they're very me; don't you think?"

"Aw, c'mon John." She grinned, holding the antlers in place - meaning that he was inches from her face -, "Get into the Christmas spirit!"

"If I was anymore into the Christmas spirit, I'd scare the living daylights outta everyone..." He frowned, and then smirked; he walked off, getting a confused look from Jezebel.

Jinxy fell flat on her face, a piece of mistletoe in her left hand; she screeched, giggling as she fell. Jezebel looked at her, noticing the Christmas plant. She folded her arms, giving a stern look to her hyperactive friend.

"Jinxy..." Jezebel grinned, "What were you going to do with that mistletoe?"

"Uhh.... Nothing?" Jinxy innocently grinned; she hid the mistletoe behind her back.

"Uh-huh," Jezebel smirked; she looked toward John, curious to why he suddenly went off.

He had seen Barney - AKA Barnacle -; Jezebel's old friend was invited by Jinxy since she knew Angel liked him (and being the matchmaker she was Jinxy made it her goal to get them together). Barney was stood over by the Christmas tree, mistletoe to the right of him, hanging high above him. He was talking to a couple of other guests, a drink in hand. John smirked to himself, remembering how his first meeting with Barney had gone - how Barney had surprised him.

This time, it was John's turn. He strolled up to Barney, a cool look on his face. The guests he was talking with raised an eyebrow at him, stopping with their chattering. This caused Barney to turn around himself. John pulled Barney into him and full on kissed him, on the lips - gaining a few gasps and whispers from the guests (ones happy and some not so much). This both surprised and made Barney happy all too well. Jezebel, on the other hand, blushed. Her cheeks filled up with heat.

John strolled over to Jezebel, a huge grin on his face; he saw that her face was still red, "So, was that in the spirit of Christmas?"

"Very much so." Jinxy giggled, also seeing Jezebel's red face.

"Though if I may add, you looked like you were enjoying it a little too much there." Jezebel smirked, hinting downward with a flick of her eyes; this time it was her turn to laugh as he blushed.

"That mean you were looking down there?" Jinxy smirked back, again causing the colour to return to Jezebel's cheeks as she furiously blushed and a smug smirk to appear on John's face.

"No." Jezebel turned away, walking toward Angel, who was stood writing out a few cards for Jinxy's annual trivia games and quizzes; she looked up upon hearing someone approaching behind her.

"Hey, Jezzy." She gave a friendly smile, which grew into a small grin as she saw that Jezebel was still blushing, "Is Jinxy trying things with you and John?"

"Yes and no. They're both at it really." She folded her arms, huffing slightly; she pouted, "You didn't see the kiss John gave Barney, did you?"

"Oh, I think everyone saw that." Angel smirked, "But, it wasn't that, that got you so flustered, was it?"

"Nope, it was the fact that I pointed something out, and Jinxy made a point I was looking... at a specific spot..." Jezebel blushed further upon thinking about the earlier events.

"Oooo." Angel grinned, taking note of what she meant, "I get you... Was you looking though?"

"What? No..." Jezebel bit her lower lip, looking away from Angel's gaze; when her friend gave a stern look, with a smirk, she gave in, "Maybe... Maybe I was a little."

"I knew it." Angel proudly smiled to herself; Jinxy bounded over, much like a puppy would.  
  
Noticing Angel had finished sorting the quiz cards; she turned to Jinxy, attempting to get the attention off her, "Hey Jinx; when are you doing your annual quiz?"

"Well, I was gonna do it once someone was done making my cards all pretty." Jinxy hinted toward the taller Albino girl.

"You were hinting at me then," She turned to face Jinxy, her short pale yellow and pink hair bouncing over her shoulders as she did, "weren't you?"

"Yeah." Jinxy gave an innocent grin; she grabbed the cards, stuffing them in the pocket of her waist coat, before grabbing both girls' arms, "C'mon girls!"

Jinxy announced that she shall be putting the party into 4 groups - getting everyone there involved- for the quiz; she did the teams via putting names of every person and the names of the 4 teams into 2 top hats. The names of the four teams were: Red Nosed Reindeers, Chatty Candy Canes, Silly Snowmen, and Pretty Presents. She drew each name out telling them to go to a certain team. Jezebel's had already been called for team Red Nosed Reindeers, when John's was pulled out.

"John, you're on Chatty Candy Canes." Jinxy announced, looking down at the papers in her hands.

"What? I like my life as it is, thank you!" John shouted; he pointed over at Jezebel with his thumb, "Do you even know what she's like! She'll probably kill me in seconds if she lost."

"I'm not that bad, John." She pouted, folding her arms.

"Either way, I am not being the opposing team to her." John raised his eyebrows.

"I can still hear you, you know?!" Jezebel shouted, waving her arms.

"Ugh, fine." Jinxy sighed, with a hint of a small smile; she picked out another name, "Barney, you go on the team I said about John being on, and John you go on Jezebel's."

Almost halfway through the quiz, a question on holiday history came up. The question they needed to answer: Which of these organisations began tracking the journey of Santa Claus in the 1950s? The heads of every team member went into a huddle, discussing the possible answer from the 4 answers given. Out of: Post Office, NORAD, The Church of England or The Finnish Government, a lot of members from Jezebel's team chose to choose the answer 'The Church of England', though a couple of team-mates (including Jezebel) disagreed.

Upon the answer being revealed, which was NORAD - The North American Aerospace Defense, Command, Jezebel threw the papers off the table they sat on; she shouted toward her team mates - receiving confused and disgusted looks from the other teams, "What the literal and actual FUCK?! I TOLD YOU I knew what the answer was. You should have listened to me - but no, no one ever fucking does."

She pouted, folding her arms; John couldn't help, but chuckle because her face had gone slightly red from the shouting she did. She shot a glare at him, "What do you find so fucking funny?!"

"The fact that you're letting a silly quiz get to you? The fact that your face is red?" He smirked, raising an eyebrow; he then hinted for her to look around, which she did after a moment's hesitation.

She saw a lot of the guests were staring at her with awkward expressions, mostly from her team; she slowly lowered herself to her seat. She blushed hard, embarrassed she went that far. She hated it when her competitive nature got the better of her in public places like this, she hated the attention and judgemental stares. She lowered her head, bringing her knees to her chest.

Jezebel, with a mouse like voice, apologised, "S-sorry..."

In the end, Jezebel's team actually wins with only a few wrong answers; just as Jinxy announced that her team had won, Jezebel sprang out of her seat, standing on top of the tables. She screeched 'yes' as loud as possible, as she fist pumped the air multiple times.   
  
Sticking up both middle fingers at the opposite teams, she continued to rub it in their irritated faces, "take that you fuckers! We won! Victory is ours!"

Getting tired of Jezebel's ranting over her team being victorious for 30 minutes now, a paled skin girl by the name of Catalina Maria - a friend of Jinxy's - pounced Jezebel off the table she stood on. This girl was smaller than her by a few inches, but still managed to knock some wind out of her, due to the sheer force. Catalina's red and black layered hair flowed behind her - the top red layer getting more in her face, while the bottom black was the part flowing behind her -. Her chocolate brown eyes gleamed at the chance to get to be playful with another friend of Jinxy's. She also clearly had a love of sweets as Jezebel could spot a couple sticking out of her jacket pockets.

In Catalina doing this, it had started off a playful dog pile - with John being the second to join in; Jinxy, on the other hand, had to be the person on top. The way she did this was what caused everyone to groan in pain: she dive bombed off the same table Jezebel was knocked off, screaming 'Cannonball' as she did.

"Jinx," John frowned, grunting underneath the other guests that joined the pile, "Get off."

"Aw, but we're all having fun!" Jinxy giggled; she saw John, Jezebel and Catalina glaring up at her, "Fine. Fine. But, let's get on with the snowball throw game!"

Once everyone was off them and they were up on their feet, John turned to Catalina and Jezebel - with them knowing Jinxy more than him - and asked, "What the fuck is 'snowball throw game' and does it sound as disgusting as I think it does?"

"Gods, John, do you have to make everything into a dirty joke?" Jezebel shook her head, a small smirk on her lips; she gave a playful shove.

"No, but it makes life more fun." John smirked back her, adding an impish wink, "Don't ya think?"

"Stop that." She frowned; she smirked as she shoved him again.

"The snowball game is just the guests throwing either those marshmallow chocolate balls or wet tissues crumbled up at one another." Catalina smiled, answering John's question, "I think I heard Jinxy discussing it with that Albino girl with the pretty hair."

"Oh you mean Angel?" Jezebel asked, receiving a nod from Catalina; the game went as horribly as it sounded: the guests getting a little too into the game and ended up making a mess.

Due to the huge mess and having to be the ones to tidy it up, the hotel staff silently glared at Jinxy for being the one to suggest such a game. It didn't help much when she also added that she will now be hosting the eggnog stache contest - which a lot of guests took part in -; she and Charlotte were the ones to judge the staches, who had the frothiest one. While these games went on, Jinxy had some karaoke go on for those guests that didn't join in, but still wanted to do something, most of the ones that didn't do either just chatted and caught up with one another.

Being the shipper she was, Jinxy thought that a mistletoe guessing game would be the perfect opportunity for her to do some pairing. She grabbed random guests she thought looked cute together, after blindfolding them all, and had them guess who they were kissing under the mistletoe. When they used up their guesses or got it right, she would remove their blindfolds for them. Throughout the previous Christmases, since knowing them, Jinxy has had a habit of hanging - or at least trying to - over both John and Jezebel when they were together. Much to both their annoyance and happiness, this was the year she gave them a bit of a boost. Even after guessing who they just kissed and revealing the other, causing each to blush slightly (though Jezebel a lot more than John), she had the whole party chanting, 'kiss!'

They awkwardly looked between the mistletoe and each other, before actually kissing - John leading into it. With it being their first proper kiss, John and Jezebel took the time to enjoy it, and actually put a bit of passion into it; Jinxy, when seeing the two of them enjoying it, cheered, "Oooooo, they're enjoying it!"

They parted, sweetly smiling at one another; John kept Jezebel in his embrace, his arms still wrapped around her waist as he kept her against him. He smiled, a small hint of pride on his face, along with a slight blush. Jezebel, on the other hand, blushed furiously. She felt awkward, and mostly from the attention she and John were getting from the other party guests. She felt the need to bury her face into something, so being the one person next to her, she buried her face into John's chest. Her fingers intertwined in his waistcoat, tightly gripping.

Upon realisation that what had just happened was real, Jinxy began screaming, "They finally did it! They finally kissed!" as she bounded around the room; she was fangirling, something she did a lot when something made her overly excited. She ran over to Charlotte, grabbing her cheeks and yanking her into a kiss. When they parted, Charlotte's face set on fire, changing to a deep shade of red.

Jinxy continued to bounce around the room, rambling on about different topics on John and Jezebel being her OTP, such as 'Ah, I can't believe they did that!', 'That just happened', 'They're so cute together!' and 'I love them together so much'. A lot of the party guests, including Charlotte, just watched the hyperactive African-American bounce around passed everyone. Catalina watched as well.

At the time of the kiss, Catalina looked to be rather happy for the two, and even awed at the moment. Unfortunately, due her not really having any experience with romantic moments with anyone, so was always on the watching end; this caused a soft hint of jealousy to run through her mind. The jealousy only showed up in her eyes. She genuinely was happy about the kiss, and even had her hand to her cheeks, as a shine of light added an extra hint to her already excited eyes.

Feeling the pang of jealousy rising, Catalina excused herself from the group. She wandered to just outside the party hall. She started muttering to herself about how it was stupid of her to feel like this. That she didn't have a reasonable excuse for feeling like this toward either of them. She was too much into putting herself down over her emotions, when she didn't realise that Julian had walked up beside her. He tapped her shoulder, receiving a rather low growl as she glared at him for disturbing her thoughts.

"What?" She asked a little too loudly; quickly she apologised, and asked what he wanted of her.

"I'd just like say, darling that is a gorgeous dress." He grinned, holding a glass full of champagne in his right hand.

"Yeah, sure..whatever.. thanks, I guess." then she muttered, "The dress may be pretty, but i'm not."   
  
"I would like, if I may, to point out that I noticed you walk out of the hall straight after the little moment Jezebel shared with John... Is there a particular reason to that, sweetie?"

Finally turning to face him, fury could be seen on her face; she quite loudly and very aggressively responded with, "So what if I left, why does it matter? Maybe I just felt like it. Maybe, I just wanted to be alone. Maybe not everyone likes watching other people suck on each other's faces, especially if said person has never really had any attention like that!"  
  
She stopped abruptly, running off in the opposite direction, her hands flying to her face to cover it; Julian's gaze followed after her. The comment, "Wow, and I thought I was the sassy one" coming out of his mouth. He took a quick swig of his drink, before going off to talk to some friends.

Catalina ran down the stairs of the hotel, and ended up bumping into a much taller figure than her; one she thought a little too muscular. She had been knocked down by his massive stature, so she glared up at him, rubbing her now sore rear.

"Watch where you're going, you prick!" She glared up at him; he seemed distracted, but he caught her message.

"Oh, sorry." The tall stranger apologised; he continued to look around, before sticking out a hand to help her up, "Here. I'm really sorry. I was looking for someone, and must've been too caught up in it, to see you."

Catalina looked him over; she spotted that his clothes seemed rather tattered, but they also looked as if he tried to make an effort. He didn't look much of a party guest and she noticed he looked as if he was in a hurry. She took his hand in hers, allowing him to pull her to her feet. To her, he looked rather handsome. He looked familiar in a way, as well. In a way, she felt as if she had seen him - or someone similar to him before.

"Umm," She stood at a short distance from him; awkwardly she asked, "What's your name?"

"Oh, mine? It's Richard. Richard Connelly." He gave her a quick smile, before looking around again; his gaze fell back onto Catalina, to whom he held his gaze on, "You got a name?"

"Catalina... My name is Catalina." She attempted a small smile, "But, most of my friends just call me Cat."

"Well, Cat, it was very nice to meet you." He gave a lopsided smile.

"Who was it that you were looking for?"

"Umm, don't suppose you know a Jezebel Connelly? I was told by someone that she would be here."   
  
"Oh you know her?"

"Yeah, she's my little sister... We're still trying to work things out really, but I need her for something."

"I think she's still in the party hall."

"She's not with a fella called John, is she?" He had a look of slight fear on his face.

"Why? You scared of him?" She smiled, noting he was.

"What? God no. He... He almost broke my nose the last time we met..." Richard frowned when Catalina let out a giggle, "It's not funny. It really hurt."

"Why did he do that?" She curiously looked up at him, "I thought he seemed rather nice when I met him."

"Oh, I'm sure he is," He grumbled, "But it was something to do with me and Jezebel not seeing each other for a few years... I won't go into details there."

Catalina nodded, biting on her lower lip. She wasn't quite sure what to say, but she didn't want to let him leave. Her nerves could be seen in how she shifted on her feet, and avoided direct eye contact. Having previously been upset, and still not quite over it yet, she wiped at the corner of her eye, smearing some of her eyeliner (which she'd had trouble putting on in the first place) across her cheek.

Hesitantly she looked up again. She didn't want to ask since he didn't want to tell; she fidgeted with her sleeves before sighing lightly. She still didn't feel like being around anyone, but something about this person.. She wasn't sure what it was.

Her pale face flushed a bit darker. "Anyway..I..um..I should probably go, I'm not exactly the most interesting person..and..you're here to see your sister," her voice pinched there, suggesting further something was bothering her "not me. Soo..I'm..going to stop wasting your time..and..yeah.." her voice grew quieter, and she started to walk away, her dark hair hiding her face. The way the light hit her hair, it looked like she had had some various brown high and low lights put in with her black hair.

"Well, you certainly seem rather... interesting to me. But, I do really need to talk to my sister... So, I'll catch you later?" He turned in the opposite direction; he was going to go find his sister, but something bothered him. He stopped midway, his pace slowing ever so slightly, before he whipped around to gently grab Catalina's arm, "I could stay a bit longer though, if you want? You don't sound too much into the Christmas spirit and like you could use some cheering up. I'm sure what I have to talk about with my sister can wait." 

He gave her a quick smile, tilting his head slightly. He waited for her response. Catalina looked up in surprise, blinking a couple times. She wiped at her other eye, unsure what to say. It surprised her greatly that someone had decided to stop and notice how bothered she was. She'd thought everyone was all too busy with their own stuff to notice, so she had settled on keeping to herself. Swallowing lightly, she gave a small attempt at a smile. She was about to say she was fine, but then slowly nodded instead.

"I..would like that.." she answered quietly, hoping her striped sleeve wouldn't have pushed up too far from her wrist. It was another thing she was self conscious of- her scars. (Not necessarily from cuts, but other self harm..)  
  
"Very well, I shall stay with you." Richard gave a sweet smile to her; he led her over to some armchairs over in the corner of the lobby of the hotel; they sat there, "Is there a reason you came out here by yourself?"

"Oh... Umm... I just needed a bit of fresh air." She attempted a small smile.

A simple glimpse of sadness in her eyes indicated to him that she lied, "Really? Your eyes betray you, ya know; you don't look happy?"

"Who are you to tell me if I'm happy or not! What if I am telling the truth, and something sad just suddenly came into my mind when I was talking to you? I'm pretty sure people can think about more than one thing..." Catalina began, "What if I think unlike people like your sister, I am not dateable? Not pretty enough to have guys knocking at her door, or even talk to her out of the blue... To not even have been kissed."

He took note that as she spoke the last part of her rant to him, there was a lot more sadness in that one part compared to all the others. He cocked his head to the side, waiting for her to continue. When she didn't, he placed a hand on her shoulder to receive a startled look from her. He smiled sweetly at her, something he didn't usually do... Unless he was talking to a girl he liked... He mentally shook this off. Afterall, he had only just met her.

"Look, Cat; I don't want to pry, but you look like you need to get things off your chest." Richard, again, gave that sweet smile; he looked away from her for just a moment, "You are most welcome to do that with me."

Catalina hesitantly nodded, before she started explaining the earlier events and how it made her feel. How she felt jealous of Jezebel and John. How she later felt guilty for having felt that way. As she spoke, he doesn't know what he was thinking. Richard just stared at her, listening to every word she had to say. By the time she finished, he lurched himself forward, and kissed her. It was a brief kiss, since he soon realised she wasn't returning it. He pulled away.

"Sorry," He ruffled the back of his hair, embarrassed he had let himself do that, "I... I don't know why I did that."

"Umm... It's okay... I think." Catalina was still rather surprised - not just at the fact that she had been kissed, but also because of someone showing interest in her; she blushed, "It... It was kinda nice."

"Good." He smiled; he inched forward, hinting he wanted to do it again, "May I?"

"Oh, umm..." She nervously nodded, giving him silent method of consent from her end; they were connected in the kiss for only a mere minute, when a small crowd stopped and observed them.

Catalina noticed this and became embarrassed, so she left to hide in a room somewhere. Due to the small crowd spreading the new news, Jezebel eventually found out two things. One being her brother was at the party, and two, he had kissed her newest friend. She stormed around the hotel, hunting for him. She ended up finding him sat talking with Catalina again. Richard looked terrified as his sister approached.

"Richard Connelly, you stay away from her! She doesn't need your shit in her life." Jezebel stood protectively between Catalina and her older brother; she glared up at him, "Don't think for a second that just because it's Christmas I'm gonna let you off. I'm still attempting to trust you, and I'm still trying to get back on track with you."

Catalina looked down to her feet, thinking over the situation she was now currently in: she didn't want to lose Jezebel as a friend, but she also didn't want to lose her first possible romantic relationship. She weighed the pros and cons of each situation, and came to the decision that she wanted to keep both in her life, but had to make her feelings clear. A look of irritance spread across her face, to which John asked if she was alright.

She let out a rather aggressive, "I'm fine on my own. Jezebel, I'm sure whatever Richard has going for, I can handle. I'm a big girl. I'm an adult. I can take care of myself. He showed me the first sign of affection from the opposite gender to me ever, and I don't want to lose that."

After a moment's silence, Jezebel quietly asked her, "Are you sure?"

To which she replied, a bit quieter, "Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay. As long as you're okay." She gave Catalina a small smile; she turned to her brother taking hold of the collar of his shirt, "And you. If you hurt her, I will break your fingers. Got it?"

Richard looked over at John, who smirked as he shrugged; he simply said, "Better behave then, mate. She could - and will - actually do that."

Richard gulped at that response, giving his little sister a quick nod. She let him go, allowing him to get closer to Catalina. She then gave him a quick 'I'm watching you' gesture, before she asked, "So, why are you here in the first place?"

Richard sighed, taking a breath before answering his younger sister, "Jezzy, I... I didn't know what else to do. I have no where else to go, my girlfriend kicked me out and I haven't any money left. I wanted to come see you. You're my only family that I have on Christmas.... You're my only family."

She hesitated, not wanting to mention the name, "What... What about Aunt Aggie?"

"Well, that's another reason I wanted to come see you..." Richard rubbed the back of his neck, "She passed away, about 2 months ago."

"Well, thank fuck. That bitch made Belle's childhood a living Hell." John came up behind Jezebel, who got a slight bit startled by him suddenly appearing and placing a hand on her shoulder; he looked slightly annoyed at her brother, "She fucking deserves it."   
  
Richard gave a quick glance to John, unsure to what he actually meant; he was about to ask of what he had meant by his statement, but Jezebel stepped in.

"Can we just enjoy the holiday season, without mentioning... that name." She frowned; John huffed before walking back into the main hall, while Jezebel stayed to chat with Catalina and her brother for a bit longer, "Remember, John, no drinking. We need to get home yet."

Not knowing what to talk about, the two siblings stay in silence for a short while. Unfortunately, to Catalina, it was awkward and felt too long. She broke the silence, wanting at least one of them to talk. Her gaze landed on the back of his neck; she had spied a small tattoo of a curled up raccoon. She became curious and wanted to know about it.

"Hey, Richard, what's that raccoon on the back of your neck stand for?" Catalina asked, tilting her head; Jezebel looked around Richard to see what her new friend was talking about.

"Oh, that; it's a really old tattoo.." Richard replied; his hand instinctively went to the back of his neck, and started to rub it.

"Ritchie, isn't that the drawing I did when I was like 6..." Jezebel asked, slightly smiling, "I did that when we used to camp in the back garden, didn't I?"

"Exactly. It was one of the only few moments we got together, one you actually got to enjoy yourself." He gave a small smile.

"I think it's rather adorable." Catalina took hold of Richard's upper arm, smiling up at him.

"Yeah, even as a kid, Jezzy was pretty talented." Richard smiled.

Over the loudspeaker, Jinxy announced, "C'mon guys, last chance to enter the Midnight Drinking Contest; our champs have almost finished! Does anyone have any guts to take up our reigning champion, John Constantine, of tonight's game?!"

Jezebel frowned, shaking her head; she turned to her brother and Catalina, "Excuse me." 

She headed toward the main hall, where said drinking contest was being held. She wandered into the hall to see John sat at the bar, chugging down a large mug of beer. Beside him, another gentleman was attempting to keep up, and by the look of things, he wasn't doing so well. By now, not only were half the contestants plastered from the game, but John was just about there too.

Jezebel stormed up to Jinxy, " Jinxy! How are me, John and Zed meant to get home now?!"

"Zed already kinda went home with a headache." Jinxy gave an awkward drink, "And... John told me he never backed down from a challenge, so he took it. It's his fault!"

She sighed, looking over at John; he just finished the pint he just had. He looked like he wobbled a little as he looked into his mug, "How many has he had?"   
  
"Umm..." Jinxy lowered the tone of her voice, "7."

"7! Jinxy! He's gonna be drunk off his ass. Why did you let him drink that much!"

"It was rather entertaining to see him down them the way he was, and see the other guys attempt to keep up?" She grinned; she skipped off, quickly before she could be told off.

Jinxy grabbed hold of the mic she held earlier, and cleared her throat before announcing, "Merry Christmas, everybody! Let's get started with the karaoke, shall we! Any takers for the first go?"

John stumbled up to her, taking the microphone; he then staggered up to Jezebel. He began drunk-singing the Christmas hit 'Baby, it's cold outside' by Tom Jones. He had apparently gotten too much into the Christmas spirit.

"Oh, baby *hic* It's bad out ttthere... C'moooonn BBBBeeeellllle, yyyyou know tthisss one." John continued singing out of tune, leaning onto a now bad-tempered Jezebel - mostly for support - with one hand holding a bottle of alcohol - which he must have gotten between finishing that last pint and collecting the microphone - and in the other hand he held the microphone.  
  
"John, no. Bad John! That's your 8th bottle!" Jezebel stated, angrily looking at John, who had somehow lost his red waistcoat during the night.   
  
"Okay, who gave John that alcohol and the mic?" Angel called from over by the karaoke machine, switching it off and even though it was, John continued to sing; she thought it would cause him to, but it did not.   
  
In reply (and to give away who the culprit was again), Jinxy laughed, "Haha, He's gonna have such the hangover tomorrow!"

Jezebel sighed for - what she felt was - the billionth time that night; she threw one of John's arms around her shoulders, while supporting him with one of hers. She took the microphone from him, and shoved it back into Jinxy's hand. Jinxy directed her to one of the spare rooms in the hotel that Jezebel could take John to, whom she intended on getting him to a bed to rest. She attempted to take the bottle, but he was not having any of it. On the way to the room, he pushed against Jezebel, causing her to almost fall over multiple times. He also kept singing other Christmas songs.

As they entered the room Jinxy told them to go to, John smirked to himself, "Ya know, Belle, you look reeally pretty tonight."   
  
As he leaned closer, Jezebel pushed him away, "John, you're too drunk right now. Please go take a nap."   
  
"How ab-about you join me?" John continued to lean in closer; he wrapped his arms around her waist, his body swaying - partly from the booze and partly because he was making an attempt at being romantic by slow dancing - of sorts - with her, "That king sized bed loooksss awful lo-lonely, ya know?"   
  
"John, you are beyond drunk. That would both be taking advantage of you and myself." Jezebel pressed both hands to his chest, pushing herself away a bit, as she looked up at him, "Besides, what about that girl you brought to the lodge the other night?"  
  
"Nooo, it wouldn't, and her? She's not really anything to me. If anything, it's I who you want" He slowly pulled her closer to him, his face inching closer to hers, "I know you want me, as much as I wants you." 

They were only inches away, when Jezebel forced herself away from him; she nervously repeated as she shook her head, "No, no, no; this isn't right."   
  
He cocked his head to the side, and then slowly strode up to her; he once again wrapped his arms around her, leaning his face into hers, his mouth inches from her ear as he huskily responded with, "C'mon, love. Do it for me."  
  
She knew every time he said 'love', and most especially in the tone he was using, she felt weak, like she couldn't think for herself. She stood there frozen, unsure on what to do next. His lips were now on her neck, sucking and biting in areas attempting to find her sensitive spots. He achieved that in seconds, actually finding it in the nook of her neck, right in the middle on her left side. Not expecting it to be so loud, a small moan surprised Jezebel as it escaped her lips, gaining a huge grin from the still hugely drunk John, who kept hold of her hand as he locked the door. His fingers intertwining with hers.  
  
"See, I knew you wanted it." He whispered into her ear with a smirk; he slipped the sleeves of her dress over her shoulders, now over the top parts of her forearms and then taking off her scarf, "Ya know, I've always wanted to see whaat wass underneath those layersss of clothing you wear."

His previous comment made Jezebel blush, due to her feeling insecure over her body; she stopped him before he could go any further, "John, I'm actually not drunk enough - or even at all - to go through with this. I don't even think we should do this."   
  
"Then how about a drink?" He smirked stumbling over to a mini fridge, and opening it to reveal bottles of champagne and other alcoholic beverages; he grabbed one of each drink, before heading back over to Jezebel, to who he handed a glass, while raising his own glass, "Let'ss get smashed, lovve."

John knew of the slight competitive nature Jezebel had at times, and tonight was no difference as he made a competition out of who could drink the most - ending up getting even more drunk, and getting Jezebel drunk. The two of them, though not actually doing anything, slept in the bed together. They woke up to the sun cracking through the curtains.  
  


"Good morning, love birds!" A very excited voice sounded; Jezebel opened an eye to see Jinxy, "Now, what did we get up to last night?!"   
  
"Jinx?" John was halfway off the bed, his shirt thrown on the bedside table, leaving him shirtless, and his leg hanging out the covers;his arm groggily reached up for the alarm clock, "It's 4am, please go to bed."   
  
"Actually, that clock's slow; it's 4 in the afternoon." She beamed, crossing her arms

"Wait, how did you get in; I'm sure the door was locked?" Jezebel asked, her head sinking back into the pillow.   
  
"I have more than one key to each room, and when you didn't come back to the party after putting drunk ass to bed last night, I got worried."   
  
"You didn't think to check last night?" John growled, just wanting to get back to sleep.  
  
"I was hosting a party, it's kinda rude to leave." Jinxy frowned slightly, her smile soon returning, "That's why I had Angel come check up on you; she came back claiming that it was pretty quiet in here, so we assumed you were both asleep."  
  
"Can you please go; if you can't tell, we've got splitting headaches, and would like some sleep." John claimed; he grabbed a pillow and placed it over his head.   
  
Jinxy grinned, walking over to his side of the bed; looking at the clothes on the floor; she shouted, very close to John's face, "Now, why would I want to do that, when I want to hear what you two got up to last night? Obviously something fun, right?"

"What are you on about?" John groaned and gave an annoyed glance, lifting the pillow; Jinxy still smirked as she pointed to the pile of clothes beside her feet, causing John to quickly sit up, "Wait, what?!"   
  
"What?!" Jezebel moaned, her face underneath the covers; John pulled the covers off her, revealing a rather angered Jezebel, whose eyes were clamped shut, "John, what the fuck?!"  
  
"You may want to see this." John claimed; he sounded much more awake than earlier, which alerted Jezebel to wake up a bit more. 

She looked to where her two friends were looking, suddenly gaining a deer in the headlights look. She looked under the covers to see that John had no shirt nor no pants on - except for his boxers -, while she didn't have her tights and her dress was all the way up her thighs. 

"Did.. Did we?" Jezebel stuttered, suddenly feeling a tinge of awkwardness. 

"No... No, I don't think so..." John replied, shaking his head; he stopped when it started hurting. 

"I'm pretty sure I didn't get that drunk... You might have, but I didn't... I'm sure I would have remembered..."

"Ah, calm down you two; if you did, do you honestly think you would be wearing your underwear?" Jinxy laughed, and then much quieter, continued, "Besides, I checked the surveillance, since one of my guests lost his cufflinks in one of the rooms. I happened upon you two not long after you had gone to the room, only to see that after your little drinking competition, the two of you went to sleep." 

 "That's good, right?" John began, "At least, things won't be as awkward, right?"

"I guess.." 

"C'mon you two, would things really be so bad if it had happened? Sure, you might not have remembered, but you two would have made love with someone you both know and both of you care about." Jinxy exclaimed,adding a wink at the end, "Besides, it's Christmas; that's a gift I'm sure you both could use with the stress you go through."   


	40. CB

Due to not being able to get home for several days, Barney had stayed behind at Jezebel's until it was safe for him to get back; it had been a couple of days since the Christmas party, and though he was with her, she had arranged to meet up with another friend. Jezebel had organised to meet up with CB from Gotham. CB had agreed that Barney could tag along with them. He happily obliged to go with her, as long as it meant he got to spend time with his childhood friend and catch up with her.

They sat in CB's house, with CB's horse peeking from his stable. Every so often, Ledger would let out a whinny, indicating he wanted affection from the new people in his owner's house. This being the case, Jezebel could not resist, but to stroke the black gelding. She approached him, still chatting with CB and Barney, and gave him a long stroke up him muzzle. She then patted his neck.

"So, CB, I heard you and Two Face got together. How's that?" Jezebel asked turning to face CB, but continuing to give affection to the horse beside her.

CB grinned in response, her mind wondering off; her gaze following the non-existent dot to the left. She giggled to herself as she daydreamt. It wasn't until Jezebel was waving a hand in her face that she realised she was asked a question, still needing to answer it.

"Oh," She giggled again, "It's really great. I honestly thought he wouldn't want to keep me around too long and that we wouldn't last too long, since ya know, there's plenty of other pretty gals in Gotham that he could have."

She lowered her gaze to the floor; Jezebel tilted her head, trying to look CB in the eyes, "I'm sure he's definitely happy with you."

"Hey, I bet he's thinking about you right now" Barney stepped in with a smile, attempting to help, though he knew little about the people they were talking about.

"I guess so," CB now gave a small smile, looking up slightly at Jezebel; she then grinned, "Speaking of couples, are you and John one yet?"

Taken aback by the question, Jezebel stuttered, "W-what?"

"Yeah, I was wondering that myself, especially with what happened between the two of you at the party?" Barney leaned forward, now intrigued with the topic.

"What?" Jezebel blushed, avoiding her friend's gazes.

"Ooo, something happened between them at a party?" CB looked over at Barney; determined to get answers, she moved seats and now sat next to him, propping her head in hands, as her elbows sat on her lap, "Do tell."

"With pleasure." Barney grinned, "Basically, the host had a game to have random people kiss under the mistletoe. Jinxy - the host - obviously had intentions of getting John and Jezebel under there, cause she was much more excited about picking the two of them than the other contestants. They definitely enjoyed the kiss, and took a bit longer to part than the other 'couples'. Also, something to note, they went to, and stayed in, the same room together."

"In the same bed?" CB curiously asked.

"In the same bed." Barney confirmed, "They were found, mostly half naked and snuggled together."

"We weren't half naked! I still had my dress on!" Jezebel stepped in, her face flushed red, which she tried to hide from her friends.

"Yeah, but Jinxy said it was halfway up your thighs." Barney gave a little singsong and a huge grin; CB squealed, while Jezebel grumbled to herself.

"Ooo, things heating with those two. So, does that mean what I think it means? You two are finally together?" CB asked, leaning toward Jezebel.

"No. That night... John was stupidly drunk; I would have felt bad using him like that, even if his drunkenness caused him to say he wanted it." 

"Wait," Barney interrupted, "Didn't you say John tells the truth when drunk?"

"I can never tell if he's drunk enough to say the truth." Jezebel replied with a quick shrug, "I don't think he was drunk enough that night though." 

"Aw, that's a shame." CB's cheery demeanour lowered for a quick second, but quickly brightened, "You think you two might do in the future?"

Still blushing, Jezebel slowly shook her head, "I... I'm honestly unsure... I mean, I get that you guys like us together and I admit, we do get on a lot like a couple, but he's... he's not really the type, in my opinion, that would want to settle down, let alone have a long term girlfriend.... What would happen if he broke up with me? It would be a bit awkward for me to stay there, wouldn't it?"

"Why would he be the one to do the breaking up?" CB titled her head in confusion.

"Well, let's be honest; I get attached too easily and I'm a bit possessive. I wouldn't be able to, no matter how badly he acted toward me. If he did. From what I've been told, he's pretty good to his girlfriends."

There was a moment silence, before Barney asked, "Wasn't you two, like, rivals for John at some point? Or was I imagining that?"

"No... You're right there... We did kinda compete with one another for awhile." Jezebel replied.

CB then added, "But, it was more that I was a kinda fangirl toward John, and just basically stalked him. I would just follow him, and sometimes flirt if he was close enough to speak to, but nothing too harmless."

"So, how did you two meet and actually become friends?" Barney asked.

"It was just before a lot of the inmates at Arkham asylum and Blackgate Prison were sent into Arkham City, me included." CB answered, "It was actually in the newer parts of Gotham that it happened."

"Yeah, it as outside John's office. John was standing outside his office, sorting through some notes he had a friend make for him for a case we were working, and not long getting back from receiving them; that was when CB strutted up to him. She started to flirt with him. Not 5 minutes later, I was about to walk out of the office, when I saw through the door window this event that was taking place. I had to grit my teeth, before walking out."

~ Flashback ~   
Jezebel had to grit her teeth, before she walked out and stood beside John, "Hey, John, did you get them notes?"

John, with an uncomfortable expression, looked toward CB, "...Yeah, not long got back. So far they look good..."

He handed the notes to Jezebel, who quickly shifted through them as she tried to keep an eye on CB. She stepped in before Jezebel could say anything, turning John so that his back is to Jezebel, "You know, you look like you could use a break, honey."

She leaned into his ear and whispered with both a suggestive look and tone, "How 'bout you and I go somewhere that I can help with that..."

Her eyes flick toward Jezebel, who had a look of irritation for just a second, and CB's grin grew slightly. Jezebel pulled John away from CB, giving her a sarcastic smile.

"Sorry, we're a bit busy right now, maybe another time; John, I set something on the desk for you to look at, mind taking a look?" Jezebel's gaze turned to a slightly confused John, who nodded in response. .

"Sure, I'll go check it out now." He walked into the office, taking the notes with him.

Once the door to John's office was closed and she was sure he couldn't hear her, she looked up at a slightly taller CB, who had a small smirk and a raised eyebrow at the time.

"Look, John's not yours, so stop flirting with him. Don't think I've not spotted you before. Trying it on with him."Jezebel violently pointed to CB, who stifled a bit of laughter.

A laugh in her throat came up, "Whatever."

CB turned away, "He's not exactly yours either; is he now? I mean, I've never heard him talk about you, whenever I'm around and you're not. He doesn't look at all bothered, when I do as well."

Jezebel's physical appearance flicked between Jez and herself. In Jezebel's head, she continuously diverted to Jez and herself with inner monologue.

Jez was the first to speak out of the two of them, "Let's kill 'er!!!"

"No!" Jezebel instantly replied, worry clear in her voice.

"Why not? You know what's she's doing! She's trying to get you to get jealous. I say, let it happen and take it out on her!"

"It wouldn't be right! Besides, she is right about me not being with John..." Jezebel's tone went more saddened, "I mean, why... why would he...?" 

"Oh, for fuck sake.. I got this!" Jez became more impatient.

Head conversation finished, and Jezebel's appearance took on a look more similar to Jez: completely black eyes, ghost-like skin tone, her canines growing into more fang-like teeth, her fingernails growing into claws and even sprouting some small, ripped bat-like wings on her back.

Jez was very furious; bat wings flapped viciously, as she screeched, "HOW DARE YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME, WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU! I AM NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!" 

CB turned around; had a look of shock for only a few seconds, "Wow, I didn't think you could get any weirder than me... I guess I was wrong..."

Jez growled as CB let out a light laugh, and turned her back on her, "I'm not being alone ever again!"

Jez crouched down, and then pounced onto CB, like a cat would chasing a mouse. She started clawing and biting CB, as she growled and screamed doing so

CB screamed as she punched Jez in multiple places, in response, "FUCK YOU BITCH!"

"Ha, you think that offends me, whore!" Jez laughed; both continue to pummel each other.

CB punched Jez in the chest, which should have caused her to be short of breath, but didn't really affect her. In response, Jez scratched her across the face, causing 3 jagged marks to form on her cheek, and then to start bleeding. Jez got an uppercut to her chin, with CB's fist, sending them to the floor. Jez was now on their hands and knees. By now both were panting

CB started laughing, "Ha, I knew you couldn't take it!"

John was looking at his notes, as he walked toward the door. He looked up for a minute to see that 'Jezebel' was on the floor, but he then saw that she was actually Jez, "Shit."

His notes went flying in the corridor to the entrance, as he ran out the door.

"Love, you've gone and done it now..." John pulled a confused CB away, "I suggest you run away... far away." 

He gave a quick glance over at Jez, who was still laughing their head off; CB shrugged her shoulders, used her scarf to wipe the blood from her split lip, and walked off, "Heh, whatever you say handsome..."

More to herself, "Bet I could have taken her anyway..."

He made sure CB walked off, before looking down at the still laughing Jez. He knelt down, so that he was more level with Jezebel/ Jez; with a more strict tone, while holding up her chin with his hand, "Jezebel, I know yer in there, and I want you to push Jez back inside yer head. Do it."

After a short while of John persuading her to do so, her physical form started to look more like herself, rather than Jez.

"J-John?" She winced, and then held her head causing John to quickly support her before she could fall over, "W-what happened?"

"Woah, careful, Belle. You feeling alright? I know you normally feel a bit woozy after Jez... makes an appearance..."

"Yeah, that's basically it... Feeling a bit woozy..."

He helped Jezebel to her feet, "Well, maybe a bit of a sleep on the couch would help?"

"...Maybe..." She allowed John to walk her into his office; he led Jezebel to the couch, and laid her down.

"Here, lay down and get some sleep..."

Jezebel laid down, and he waited until she was asleep, knowing she wouldn't actually tell him why she ended up in a fight with someone she hardly knows. He went to check out the CCTV that was connected to the office; he saw that Jezebel asked CB to leave him alone, and then the fight start after CB said something to Jezebel, causing Jez to come out.

"Damn it... I guess I better sort this out... " John sighed; he grabbed his keys to the office to go in search for CB, after locking the door to the place.

CB was caught pinned against a wall in an alleyway by some big looking thugs and she looked done for, but that was when she went wild and brutally murdered them all with nothing but her hands. John stood there in disbelief for a few minutes, "Could 'ave sworn you were done for there..."

CB smirked, strutting up to John; she pressed her upper body to his, "I've been in this town long enough to know when to start defending myself, darlin'."

Placing his hands on her shoulders, John pushed her away; he frowned, "Like you did with my partner?"

CB smiled, circling him, "Darlin', don't you think you would be better off without her? Isn't she holding you back? As well as the fact that demon thing inside her looks to be very dangerous to everyone around you?"

His gaze followed her, while he raised an eyebrow, "Huh, if you really think that, you really are delusional. As for Jez, which you stated to be that 'demon thing', well, Jezebel can control them, especially with my help." 

She turned to face him, with a happy tone and a large smile; she batted her eyelashes as she moved closer to him, ignoring the rest of his statement, "Why, thank you." 

John, once again, pushed her off him; his voice took on a serious tone, "Look, I'm gonna be straightforward with you here; tone down the flirting, or leave us alone."

"Well, it's a good thing Strange is sending all us criminals and mentally insane out of Gotham in a few months, cause I don't think I could do that..." CB huffed; she thought for a few seconds, knowing she didn't want things to be on bad terms between her and anyone, "Maybe afterwards, we could just be friends, all of us?"

She looked down to the ground, feeling guilty about the distress she caused, "I'm sorry about the trouble I caused tonight... I... I honestly feel bad about it all... Is there anyway I can make it up to you and... and your partner?" 

John sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess, you could come back and explain things to Jezebel?" 

CB looked up at him with a smile, "I would like that." 

"C'mon then... I left 'er asleep on the couch, so she's probably wondering where I am at the moment, that's if she's awake yet..."

"Y'know, now that I think about it; you two are adorable together." CB giggled.

"Wait, what?" John raised an eyebrow in confusion; he blushed slightly, "We're... We're not together."

"Are you sure about that?" CB smirked, raising her eyebrows; she let out a giggle as she noticed his blush. .

John shook his head in response. He and CB walked back to John's office to find Jezebel was awake.

As soon as he walked through the door, Jezebel started to shout at him, "Thanks for letting me worry, John! No note to tell me where you'd gone? Knowing this town, you could 'ave been kidnapped or gods know what..."

She quickly realised CB was stood behind him, and her voice took on a much more aggressive tone, "What is she doing here?" 

"First, calm down." He held his hands up in defense, and then placed them on her shoulders in an attempt to calm Jezebel down, "Now, Belle, she just wants to make it up to you..." 

CB stepped forward, "Please, I'm... I'm sorry about before, I didn't realise he had someone... a partner... I guess my jealousy got the better of me, huh?" 

John and Jezebel looked at each other, both blushing slightly at the fact that she stated John had someone, to be more specific Jezebel; she looked back at CB, "Umm, would... would you like to sit down?

"...Okay..." She followed John and Jezebel into the living area - where piles of paper works were laid out on the floor, a beat up looking couch in the middle, a desk that also had piles of paperwork on it in the corner, and some other types of furniture to make it feel more like home. She sat on the couch, after Jezebel did and patted the couch, hinting for CB to sit. 

"Would you prefer John be in the room or not?" Jezebel asked.

John's tone of voice took on offence, "I'm still here, you know?"

"I guess, I'm honestly not bothered. I guess with you both in the room, it makes it easier to apologise to both..." Throughout her time being in the office with John and Jezebel, CB hadn't given either of them eye contact.

"Okay." Jezebel gave a small smile; she turned to John with a smug smile, "John, you are welcome to sit down."

"Again, still here..." He sat down on the arm of the couch, next to Jezebel, folding his arms.

CB was rubbing her hands together as a form of comforting herself with how anxious she felt, "I guess, I better start with saying that I shouldn't have started fighting with you, I shouldn't have said what I said to upset you the way I did..." 

Jezebel rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment, "I should explain why I attacked you first; the reason I looked and sounded slightly different was because of a demon that long ago possessed me and has not left since. She... She gets way into my head at times, and sometimes thinks it is alright to attack people at random if I get even the littlest bit upset over them... I honestly did want to hurt you a little bit, but not the way Jez did! I'm sorry I overreacted like that."

"It's okay, I understand about inner demons..." A saddened look appeared on her face, which quickly goes away, "Anyway, umm, I told John..I can call him that right?"

CB paused and looked to John and Jezebel; the two of them nodded, "Well, I told John earlier that I didn't realise about him havin' a partner and one that cares as deeply about him as he does for her... I just want to be friends. I don't like leaving things on bad terms... with anyone... I don't like being the cause for distress or for being the bad guy - so to speak -. I...I hope you both can forgive me for intruding all the time... I realise, at times, I can be very forward too." 

Jezebel gave a sympathized look toward CB, who still hadn't made eye contact with either her or John,"I realise, as well, that we started out on bad terms... I reckon we could be friends..."

She looked to John, to see if he agreed; John nodded to respond, "Yeah, wouldn't be too much trouble."

"Then it's settled, we're friends. Or at least acquaintances for now." Smiling, Jezebel placing a comforting hand on CB's, to help stop CB from rubbing her hands together.

CB looked up to see the generally friendly looked John and Jezebel gave her; she smiled back upon seeing they were, "Thank you."

"You never told us your name?"

"Well, that might be a bit of trouble to say, considering this is my alias..." She hinted to her Harley Quinn inspired outfit, "... And I have serious trust issues at times, especially with stuff like this..."

"You already know my name and John's... I know, maybe, we can start again..." Stuck out her left hand for CB to shake, "Hi, I'm Jezebel Connelly, and this is John Constantine; what's your name?"

CB frowned and looked a bit freaked out, like she was going to panic, but soon calmed herself down, "Umm, I'm Linzi... Linzi Harris, but my alias is CB or Creative Bloodbath to be more precise..."

Warily, she shook Jezebel's hand and a smile slowly appeared on her face. After offering each of them a cup of whiskey, John came back with his hands full. He handed CB and Jezebel their cups, before settling back on the arm of the chair himself. The girls had been chatting to get to know one another, while he finished a bit of work on the case he was meant to be working.

Jezebel curiously asked CB, John sitting next to her, "Why did you choose to go with the alias CB?"

"Umm, I used to get called Creative Blossom in school, but it often got shortened. I guess that continued when I came here, cause my creatively didn't stop at just drawing or painting..."

"Oh." Jezebel quickly got what CB was explaining, "So, you get really creative with your murders?"

"Yup," CB replied all too excitedly, "I like to plan sometimes, too, but it's mostly just spur of the moment kinda thing. Just what comes to me then and there."

"Yeah, trust me when I say this: she doesn't need something sharp to kill someone." John stepped in, after taking a quick shot of his drink; Jezebel looked at him questionably.

CB continued to explain what he meant, "Well, when he found me to tell me to back off, I was basically cornered by this... thugs.. So I didn't have any other way out. I just used my hands. It was all I had at the time."

"You told me Strange was going to send all the mentally ill and criminals out of Gotham, what did you mean by that?" John asked, placing his shot glass on the floor beside the couch, and then folding his arms.

"Oh, that..." She frowned, "Yeah, well, Quincey Sharp announced that he and Strange have a business opportunity that would help Gotham. Something that involves locking away all the criminals, all the mentally ill, all in one place. If I remember rightly, from the blueprints of the place, it was something called Arkham City."

"How did you get the blueprints? I imagine something like that would be rather confidential, won't it?" Jezebel asked, also placing her glass down.

"It was." CB proudly grinned, "A lot of us at Arkham know of ways to sneak about. Me, my friend Dusk, Scarecrow, Joker. Just to name a few. I managed to sneak into an old office. It was quite secluded and I don't think many know of it existing." 

"You have quite a lot of skills." John and Jezebel smile at her, both with raised eyebrows.

~Flashback finishes~

"Wow that was quite a story." Barney raised his own eyebrows.

"Yup," Both girls replied; they added a quick giggle at the end.

"So, what was your first kill, Or rather who?" Barney went on to ask.

"Well, it was all rather a blur when it happened, but I know it was one of the co-workers at where I first worked when I moved to Gotham." CB replied, "What I do remember though, I was regularly teased there, and not in the so gentle way either... Quite a few of them got a bit physical... I guess in the end I just snapped and went for whoever was closest to me. I also remember it was Jim Gordon that caught me, sending me to Blackgate."

"How did he catch you, if you don't mind me asking?" Barney asked, still very curious.

"He tricked me. Using my horse." CB's brows narrowed; she pouted at the memory, "I will always jump to the rescue if it involves my Ledger. I don't like people putting him in danger, and that's what I thought Gordon would do... Well, at the time I did."

"What made you change your mind on Gordon?" Jezebel asked.

CB was about to answer, when her phone began ringing; she looked at it to see that Two Face was calling her, before looking at her friends, "Mind if I take this?"

"Sure," Barney and Jezebel nod, as CB slid the 'answer' button on her phone.

"Harv, what's wrong?" CB answered, sounding a little anxious; it was a quick call, and one that CB didn't end up happy after.

"What was that about?" Jezebel asked.

"Harvey wants me to go round to the courthouse. He has this big meeting he wants me to attend with Scarecrow...." She gave a bored expression, "Ugh, I hate meetings..."

"If you really need to go, we won't stop you." Jezebel smiled; she felt her own phone going off, indicating she had a text, causing her to look at it, "I've got to go myself. John wants us back. Some kinda emergency."

"Then, I guess I'll see you around." CB smiled, before they gave each other a quick hug goodbye.

"It was nice meeting you, CB." Barney smiled, before CB opened the huge front door for them to exit.

"It was nice meeting you too, Barney." CB grinned back at him; she quickly skipped into Ledger's stall, fitting his saddle onto his back, and putting on his bridle.

She was leading him out out his stall and out the front door, when Jezebel stopped her to give the horse a little stroke on the nose, which the horse was more than happy to stop for. After locking her house up, CB asked if she could give her a leg up, and Jezebel helped.

"See ya later, guys." CB began to canter off, waving behind her as she did.


	41. Drunk Jezebel, Ill Jezebel, Li'l Ball of Fur

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be done into two parts, but still in the same chapter (it will have separate headings in other words); also, let's see who can get the reference of the chapter title :P

**Drunk Part:**

Jezebel was just about done with John. He argued with her that she frustrated him at times and that she had possibly messed up their latest case. She argued back that he was just as much to blame as she was. This was almost 2 days ago. She was still stressing to herself in her room, where she found that her phone notified a message from Jinxy

Angel's birthday was coming up, and Jinxy planned to celebrate that. She had asked Jezebel if they all wanted to go on a girl's night out, something they didn't do often. She thought about it for a few seconds, and came to conclusion she could really use a drink. So, she texted Jinxy back that she would meet her there in a couple of hours.

She spent around half an hour getting ready; she emerged from her room wearing a red dress, tight around her waist, and came down to her knees. She grabbed her trench coat, phone and then went on her away. She avoided John, who had his back to her at his desk and his head in his hands.

Arriving at the club Jinxy had told her friends to meet at, Jezebel was about to look to her phone to see what part of the club they would be waiting. She didn't even need to look as she heard Jinxy calling her.   
  
"Jezzy!" She called, waving, "Over here!"   
  
Jezebel smiled as she walked over; she stood beside Angel, who received a small gift from her. Dusk was the first to notice she wasn't very much in the mood, "Jezebel, are you alright? You look a little... peeved?

She nodded, looking to her feet, "Yeah, I've just been really stressed lately...."

"Oh, okay then." Dusk raised an eyebrow, unsure to whether her friend was telling the truth; she shrugged it off, guessing her friend didn't want to talk about it, "Well, if you're alright and it's not affecting you too much...."   
  


The girls were about to enter the club, when she started ranting to Dusk; they stopped, and faced Jezebel, "I can't believe him! After all the times I've saved his ass! After all the times I've stopped him from killing himself by jumping head first into danger. One little slip up from me, and he's complaining!"   
  


Angel, Dusk and Chokehold look between each other, unsure what to do next. Jinxy just stood there with her head tilted, much like a dog, in confusion. She then gave a small smile, as she whispered to the others, "Must be a lovers' tiff with her and John."

"C'mon Jezzy," Angel began pushing her toward the club, "You need to let your hair down a bit. I think for the next couple of hours, you should relax and have a good time."

"She's right; tonight could really help." Dusk smiled again, "Though, I won't be doing any dancing, you guys are more than welcome to do so."

"I guess you're all right...." Jezebel thought on it for a couple of minutes, before heading toward the bar, "I need a drink. A strong one."

"Think one of us would need to keep an eye on her?" Charlotte asked, looking slightly over at the girls beside, while also keeping a slight look on Jezebel.

Jinxy looked over at Jezebel, who now sat chugging on a pint of an alcoholic beverage; she quickly finished it and asked for another, "Nah, I think she's fine. She's just loosening up."

Meanwhile, Jezebel was very much in her head; she constantly received negative thoughts from Jez, and herself at times. One thought that repeated itself a bit was that John would leave her or want her to leave. She was getting anxious over their argument with him, and was over thinking on the situation.

Not 10 minutes later, and Jezebel was still downing drinks; she even had a small audience sat beside her at the bar. One young looking man even said 'wow' out loud, as he watched in fascination that she managed to outdrink the local Irish man that frequented the pub. Angel was the one to pull her away from the bar, claiming, "That's enough drinking for now, Jezzy. How about a dance instead?"

"Sure," She sighed; her balance slightly wobbled as she stood, following her friend.

While on the dancefloor, eyes were on Jezebel, Jinxy and Angel; not because they were good, but because they were terrible. Jinxy and Angel were doing it to cover for their friend, who was dancing like that from the alcohol she had ingested most of the night. Dusk and Charlotte on the other hand, they watched from the sidelines with their own drinks. They weren't ones to get up on the dancefloor.

Much later, after she had a few more drinks, Jezebel was escorted home by Dusk and Angel. She weighed them down when she wobbled a little too much to one side, as they held her up. They get her back to the lodge, safely and intact. The two girls helped her down the stairs in the lodge. They spot that John hadn't even turned to acknowledge them. They frown and head on their way, leaving Jezebel on the couch.

She smiled to herself, before walking over to John. She leaned against him; her speech was rather slurred and her breath reeked of alcohol, "Heyy-eyyy, John."

He looked at her when she began hiccuping between words; he frowned, slightly looking up at her, when he sniffed up, "You've been drinking again, haven't you?"

"What?" She asked innocently; she hiccuped again, "Nooo-oooo"

John shook his head, sighing. He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. He received a bit of a shock, when she climbed onto his lap. Her knees having to go on either side of his thighs caused her dress to go further up her thighs, revealing a little bit more than she would have wanted if she would have been sober. Her hands moved to the sides of his head, and she leaned in closer to him.

"You know, John" She started to unbutton his shirt; still leaning into his ear she whispered, "You look a lot hotter-er when y-your ssshirt is like this.."

She grinned, seeing the slight blush on his cheeks, "I know you like it too...Especially when I does this...."

She trailed a finger down his chest, stopping before his belt buckle, or rather he stopped her. He had a rather serious face on him.

"Luv, c'mon; this isn't you. Now I know you've been drinking... and a lot as well," He pulled her off him, having to hold her hands from wandering over him; he led her over to the couch, sitting her down, "Wait here, I'll be back in a couple of minutes with something that may help with the 'wonderful' aftereffects, of which we call a hangover."

She smiled up at him, before he went into the kitchen; she grinned, leaning a little too far - trying to see if he was looking -, and ending up on the floor. She crawled over to the fireplace. She pressed a small button on the side, causing a small opening to come to life. Jezebel grinned to herself when she saw John still kept his alcohol stash in here. She grabbed it, and sat with her back against the wall.

"These should help to soothe it a little; should help with the nausea...."John was coming in with a tray of antidotes for a hangover, when he saw Jezebel and stopped in his tracks, "...Too."

"Hi, John." She sweetly smiled up at him as she offered a bottle, "Want some?"

"Jezebel!" John gave a whiny, but stern voice, "You're meant to be sobering up, not getting worse!"

Jezebel ignored his pleas and continued to drink through his stash; he looked to the fireplace, "And is that my stash?!"

She smirked, nodding. Still downing the bottle. He sighed. John placed down his remedies, and walked over to Jezebel. He stood with his arms folded and over her.

"Jezebel, c'mon; you're gonna be so ill tomorrow, if you don't stop now. Not even that little cure would be much help if you do."

Still ignoring him, she downed the whole bottle. He noticed she had finished a couple. He, once again, sighed in frustration, before setting himself down beside her, "Mind if I have a bottle?"

"Thought you'd never ask." She grinned, handing him a bottle from her side; a couple of hours later, and the two of them were both drunk, so much so Jezebel had fallen asleep with her head landing in John's lap, and he still drinking.

This also happened to be the same time that Chas would come home. He stopped in his tracks as he came down the stairs. Much like John had done when he saw how drunk Jezebel was, Chas sighed. He knew he was going to be the one ending up to help sober them up and to care for them.    

  **Generally ill:**

Just two days after the drunken incident with Jezebel, John receives a case involving going to the hospital to investigate a mysterious bug that had taken over a ward. Jezebel heard about it as he talked to Chas about where he was going, and insisted that she come along. Strangely, John became the voice of reason, as he demanded that she stay behind.

"Why?" She pouted, "I could be a big help. What if you don't know what to do next?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine." He was packing a bag, his back turned to her; that was until he said, "But, you won't be if you come along. Your immune system takes longer to get stronger than mine, after a night of drinking, so you'll be staying here."

"John, that's not fair!" She whined, grabbing hold of his arm, "I am old enough to take care of myself. I'm pretty sure I can cope with a ward full of people with the flu."

"Luv, life's not fair," He smirked in return; he shifted to face her, "Anyway, it may be more than the flu, we don't know that for sure. Not until I've seen for myself."

"Or we've seen." She smiled, leaning into him.

"No."

"Pleassee, Johhnnn!"

"No." He turned back to his bag, continuing his packing; he frowned and folded his arms, when she ended up sitting on his bag, her own arms folded, "Belle, move."

"No. I want to go."

"You can't."

"I want to."

"No."

"Let me."

"I said no, Jezebel."

Pouting, she folded her arms, "Fine, I don't want to."

"You gonna have to."

"No, I don't."

"You're going and that's final."

"Goooddds, fine." Jumping off the bed, she sighed; a proud grin appeared on her face as she pranced out the room.

John just stood there, rewinding the conversation that just quickly happened through his head, "Wait, Jezebel!"

"Too late! You said I can go!" She giggled as she ran off to her room, to finish packing (having started with thinking she was originally going anyway).

Around 5 hours later, the two of them were on the car journey to Indiana; the hospital being on the outskirts. For a short while, the car was silent. At the midway point, Jezebel smirked to herself as she looked over at John, "Who knew I would be the one to trick the John Constantine?"

John grumbled to himself, keeping his view on the road ahead. The annoyed look he gave only added to the reasons Jezebel grinned. She got out her book, still grinning.

"You know," She opened her book, glancing over at him, "You must be pretty ashamed; you can trick your way out of Hell and trouble with demons, but you got easily tripped by a girl like me."

"You don't need to brag." He raised an eyebrow, half smirking, "It's not hard to trick me, if the one tricking me is easy on the eyes."

It was John's turn to smirk, as Jezebel blushed slightly; she pouted, now focusing on her book, "Shut up... Why've you gotta ruin my fun?"

"Because it's fun." He continued to smirk, eyes still on the road; he glanced over seeing that she was continuously blushing causing his smirk to widen into a grin.

"Prick." She pouted.

"Bitch." He smirked.

"Asshole."

"Oh, that  _really_  hurts, luv." He grinned.

8 Hours and 25 minutes later on the highway, the two of them arrive on the grounds of the hospital. John and Jezebel walked through the hospital, looking for the ward their case would take them to. They had to stop, getting slightly lost in the many corridors.

"Hey, mate; where's ward 13?" John asked one of the male nurses that were passing by.

The nurse looked at John, raising an eyebrow, "It's down the hall, when you get to the second main doors, go up those stairs. Should be the first corridor you come down."

"Thanks, mate." He and Jezebel made their way toward the ward they needed, following the directions given; they eventually find their way.

As they pass through the ward, Jezebel noticed that many of the patients were elderly. They displayed symptoms such as nausea and actually being sick, their noses being snotty. They were continuously between being hot and cold. They were low on energy. The patients would try to itch, as they became irritated at the feeling. Jezebel noticed that the rashes, as of result of the itching, formed on the chest area.

Her attention was brought back to John talking with the head nurse from the ward; they talked about how this bad flu had taken over a lot of wards, and even killed off the older patients, who were already suffering with breathing problems. The nurse mentioned that the younger patients do get better after a matter of weeks, but it's a slow progression. She also mentioned that the flu was a usual case in the hospital, and it wasn't unusual.

John and Jezebel went back home, finding out that the flu they intended on investigating was in fact natural, rather than supernatural. John sighed, having being frustrated making the journey for no reason. Jezebel looked at him with a rather sweet smile.

"Well, at least we got an outing from this, right?" She glanced at him, still smiling.

"Meh, I guess." He gave a quick glance at her; he smiled back, but went back to focusing on the road.

On the way back to the lodge, Jezebel kept itching the upper parts of her arms and her neck. She became annoyed that it wouldn't go away. She also kept asking John to stop the car around somewhere private, so she could take a pee. John began to get suspicious around the 5th time she asked.

He raised an eyebrow, as they began on their journey home (again), "Luv, that's like that 5th time... in the last 5 minutes... Do you think you caught something from that hospital?"

"Nah..." She shrugged, and then gave an innocent grin, "Though speaking about it, could you pull over again?"

"Again?!" He looked over at her; luckily, there wasn't any traffic, meaning they could pull over at any point.

"Please?"

After 30 minutes later than their supposed time, the two of them made it back to the lodge; the long journey had Jezebel go straight to the bathroom. John laughed as she rushed by Zed, almost knocking her over. Zed's gaze followed after her, confused by what had her friend rushing. She then looked to John for answers.

"I'm starting to think she's caught the bug we were meant to be investigating." John threw himself on the couch.

"How so?" Zed asked.

"Well, constantly needing the loo, being itchy. I also noticed she kept taking off her coat, and putting it back on every time we stopped." John looked at her, "Just a guess."

"Is it a bad flu?"

"Nah, shouldn't be for her, but you know, what she's like. She'll say about she's dying..." he smirked, receiving a giggle from Zed.

Upon finishing her business, Jezebel came back into the living area and flopped herself on the couch, across John's lap; she snuggled into him, burying her face into his abdomen. She moaned, one of her hands grabbing hold of his shirt, "Ugh."

"You know, John, I'm starting to think you might be right..." Jezebel - still with her face buried in him - whined; she adjusted her head, so that she was slightly looking at him, "Maybe I did catch something."

"See, I knew this would happen." He looked down at her, smirking; she glared at his smug look, before lowering her head again.

She stayed like this for at least 10 minutes, shifting only ever so slightly. John looked down; he had hold of a shot glass of whiskey. He frowned slightly, going to press the back of his hand against her forehead. He frowned further when he felt that she was boiling.

"Luv, you're burning up." He put his glass down, sitting her up, "And you look pale as fuck. Go to bed."

"... I don't want to." She tried to lie back down, but John kept her sitting up - supporting her with his hands -.

"C'mon." He got up, pulling her with him; he threw her arm over his shoulder, and began walking her to her room.

He helped her into bed; he did something he only really needed to do when she was in the worst part of her depression episodes, that being helping her to get dressed. She was too weak to do this on her own. Her symptoms were worsening, and he noticed. He got a bowl of water and cloth to cool her down.

"I'll come back in half an hour to check on you. Keep this on your head. Should help to keep that fever down." He gave her a sweet smile, pressing the damp cloth against her head; he walked out, while she took to having a sleep, though every so often she would need to go to the toilet.

A few days pass, and it takes Chas and John to help her feel a little better. More often than John would, Chas would make her chicken soup, and the two men would take it in turns to massage her stiff shoulder. Due to the feeling of being weak, she would sit in the shower or - being forced to - take a bath (she wasn't keen on baths).

At one point in the evening, she shuffled - with a blanket wrapped around her- into the living area, seeing as John was sat here. She sat behind him, on the floor. She lifted his coat. So that she had more warmth, she pressed her head against his back.   
  
He continued with his work, a small smile on his face, "Belle, c'mon; ya know I have work to do."  
  
In return, she weakly whined, "Pwease John; I don't fweel well. I need snuggles."   
  
"Well, you're ill, so you should be resting in bed."   
  
"I can't. I'm too hot." She continue to whine.   
  
"Why do you want cuddles if you're too warm?"   
  
"Cause cuddles make everything better?" She attempted her sweetest smile; then, she frowned, "Why didn't you get sick? You was in the same places as I was. I don't get it."   
  
"John Constantine doesn't get ill." He grinned  
  
"Bullshit." She croaked; she had to rub at her throat since it throbbed in pain, "I've seen you ill before."   
  
"Yeah, well, not that often then." He shrugged; their attention was brought to there being a knock at the door, causing him to shift Jezebel to the couch and him going to answer it.

It was Jinxy and Charlotte. Upon hearing that Jezebel was ill, they had organised that all her friends put something unique and what reminded them of her together into a basket. John told her to stay put, as she attempted to get on her feet. She was very unstable on her feet and looked like she shook a little, before flopping back on the couch.

"Guys, you didn't have to do that." She weakly smiled, as she looked through the gift basket, "I'm not dying. It's only a simple bug."

"Let me remind you that every time I went into you to check up on you, you moaned that you were dying... He smiled at her, looking rather smug.

She pouted, "Did not."

"You did." He grinned; he settled himself beside her.

Jezebel's eye caught onto the fact that he wouldn't stop itching his chest. Not that he noticed himself, but she also spotted that his complexion was very pale and looked almost ghost like. Upon showing more symptoms, John revealed - not intentionally - that he had caught the sickness bug from Jezebel. This being because he was usually the one to look after her, Chas only taking over when he couldn't. Chas noticed this too, causing him to put John and Jezebel in quarantine for a couple of weeks or until they were better. Due to only having one bed in the room that they were kept in - and it being a single bed -, Jezebel made John sleep on the floor. That was until Chas brought a spare couch down for him; though he stated the floor wasn't that bad, John was more than glad to have something softer to sleep on. Jezebel ended up snuggling up on the couch with him anyway - as a means of extra warmth.   


	42. Development On Jez

"You know, John." Jezebel looked over at her partner; they were sat eating, when she asked, "It's occurred to me that we don't  _talk_  about Jez... You know, like properly..."

"Why would we?" He looked up from his dinner; a raised eyebrow at her statement, "Especially all she's caused...."

"Well, I don't know..." Jezebel thought on his question for a couple of minutes, "I guess, I think if we did, and if we got to know her... It would make her more... friendly toward us, I guess."

"You mean like when I first met her?" He crossed his arms, moving his plate slightly forward; hinting he was done, and more interested in the topic at hand.

Jezebel gave a small smirk, "Hey, that was honestly your fault, you would pin her down. You know that kinda stuff makes her more.... Playful."

John frowned, looking off to the side, "Don't I know it."

"You don't think it would be a good idea though?" Jezebel tilted her head, looking at him, "It might help us when we actually need her too."

"How do you suppose we do that? Jez is rather stubborn at times." John asked, but before he did get a reply, the front door to the lodge burst open, causing him to go see who or what it was; upon getting up the stairs, John was met with Jezebel's brother - Richard - at the top. He looked a little distressed. Then again, he normally did.

John folded his arms, looking up at the man in front of him; soon enough, Jezebel joined them. She looked shocked, nonetheless, that her older brother was visiting, "Richy?"

  
"Jezebel, I need a place to hide... Just for a few days.. Could I stay here?" He looked over at her with pleading eyes, "Please?"

John noticed Jezebel looked to the floor and was about to nod, before he stepped in; he looked up again at Richard, "Why? What's in it for us?"

"John!" Jezebel frowned at him, "He's my brother."

"Who didn't bother with you up until 4 months ago, after ditching you again." John looked down to her, "Belle, do you honestly think he deserves a place to live in as a haven from Gods know who?"

"No, but he also doesn't deserve to die either... Which I have a feeling is why he's on the run from someone." It was her turn to look at her brother with folded arms and a raised eyebrow, "Am I correct there, Richy?"

He slowly nodded, "Yeah. You're right."

Jezebel silently led her brother to a spare room, further up in the lodge. She told him that this would be where he stayed, and that she or John would be down the hall. She and Richard then went back down to the living area, where John had decided to sprawl himself out on the couch. When he spotted that Jezebel was back in the room, he shifted his legs so she could get on the couch with him.

She leaned back against the couch, looking at her brother with a smile, "You can sit down, ya know?"

"Oh, yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck, before sitting on the arm chair next to the couch; after a short while, he asked, "If you don't mind me asking, was the Jez you were talking about, when I came in, the same Jez that.... Killed mum, dad and lil' Max?"

"Way to kill the mood, there." John muttered, frowning; he got his legs shoved off and a glare from Jezebel.

"Umm, yes." She looked at her brother only for a couple of seconds, before lowering her gaze to the floor, "Jez is the one that did that."

"Do you know why she did? Why did Jez kill them?" Richard asked looking properly at his sister.

Jezebel looked at John with a look that asked if he did, but he looked equally unsure; she looked back to her brother, shaking her head, "Neither of us do."

"Though it would be a good idea to find out about her." John rubbed the stubble on his chin, rubbing in thought; he looked as if he was about talk about something else, when he was called to the kitchen by Chas.

As John's back was turned, Richard turned to his sister and saw that all the colour had fled from her face. He was about to ask her if she was alright, when Jezebel lurched forward. Leaning over on her knees, she gritted her teeth in pain. As Richard went to go up to her, she suddenly sat back up; he spotted that her eyes had gone completely black, save for a small spot where the light hit them.

A rather sinister grin now appeared on her face; Jez had evidently taken over. This startled Richard for only a short minute, before he gave an angry frown and lunged forward. He wrapped his big hands around her neck. Jez laughed in his face, as he did. Having her leaning back against the couch, he thumped her head against it. He didn't realise that her eyes return to normal, implying that Jezebel had returned. She tried to warn him.

He was still attacking her and Jezebel almost unconscious, when John marched into the room. He stopped only for a second before hastened over to them; he heaved Richard off Jezebel, who was finally able to breath. He stood between her and her brother. John checked on Jezebel, seeing if she had received any serious injuries. Finding none, he turned to face Richard with a not so friendly look.

"You fucking asswipe!" John yelled; he pointed back at Jezebel, "She gives you a place to stay and you go and do that?!"

"B-But..?" Richard began, only to be stopped.

"Get out. Get the fuck out!" John shoved him toward the front door; he quickly locked the door behind Richard, before heading back over to Jezebel, who was being checked over by Chas as well.

John sat her up, after retrieving a cold face towel and a bowl of water. He placed it around her swollen neck, gently pressing it against her. She winced when he first pressed it against. He glanced to her, giving a look of worry, "Sorry, luv."

"It's alright. It's not that painful." She attempted a small smile at him; she placed a hand over his.

"Want to tell me what just happened?" He looked at her, placing the flannel into the bowl.

"I... I think Jez took over.... She must've said something to him and he lost it."

John sighed, seeming frustrated. That was until he was asked the next question by Jezebel.

"Maybe, it would help if I talked to Jez... You know go in there... go into my head." She looked at him with pleading eyes, "She might co-operate a lot better and it could help with controlling her."

"Absolutely not." John grimaced at the idea; he shook his head.

"C'mon, John... It could be good for not only us to get information on...Jez, but also for Richard to learn about them."   
  
"Belle," John sighed, rubbing his forehead; he looked at her, "It's not that simple."

He gently took hold of her shoulders, "What if Jez was to take advantage of you again, like she did earlier?"   
  
She shrugged out of John's hands; looking up at him, she placed her own hands on his arms - not being able to reach his shoulders -, "It won't happen.

Jezebel gave a small smile. He folded his arms, looking skeptically at her, "How do you know?

He raised an eyebrow; she removed her hands, "How do you know you won't lose control this time, and Jez gets what she wants?"  
  
John deeply sighed, "John, will you chill. Jez won't get what she wants. I won't lose control. Trust me, we'll get plenty out of this."

She turned to walk away, only for John to turn her back to face him; he gave her a stern, but saddened look, "Is Jez really worth our lives over this, especially your life?"   
  
Jezebel gave a pout as she gave him her best puppy dog eyes - knowing he'd give in, "C'mon, John. Please. It could help us. Not only with this case. Not only with getting control, but giving her the satisfaction that she's wanted."   
  
John frowned, unfolding his arms, only for one to be thrown around Jezebel's shoulder - by her -, "That's what I'm afraid of: Jez getting the idea she's wanted and that she can stay."   
  
She leaned into him, lightly nudging him, "But, think about it, maybe we could use that to our advantage. Use her for information and such.."   
  
He looked at her, seeing she was still giving him puppy-dog eyes; he gave a half smirk as he shook his head, "Fine... But, the first sight that she's gonna betray us, she goes straight back in."

He reviewed how his first time meeting Jez went down, and how he himself almost lunged at Jez. While, Jezebel went to get everything ready for what they were about to do, he sighed before opening the door. On the steps, Richard sat. John's look softened, as he sat beside him.

"Look, Richard; I know you probably overreacted because of Jez... What she did to your family... What she does to Jezebel." John looked to the floor; he took out his packet of cigarettes and lit one, "But, one of the rules I set with anyone that may or will encounter Jez, is that if you hurt Jez you hurt Jezebel. This is true, especially since Jez likes to basically torture Belle."

"Yeah, I guess I did." Richard looked to the ground himself; he glanced over at John, "I really didn't mean to... I just lost it, when I realised it wasn't Jezebel."

"You wanna know something?" John asked as he looked distantly off into the wooded area surrounding most of the lodge; he took a long drag of his cigarette.

"What?" Richard looked at him.

"You're not the only one... I almost did it myself when I first came into contact with Jez. I'm pretty sure others have as well, including her best friend, Angel." John flicked the finished cigarette to the floor, before looking back at Richard.   
  
Richard let out a sigh of relief, one of which John caught; this caused him to smirk. He took out another cigarette, lighting it. He paused for a while, thinking of something to say. He wanted to try to make conversation with Jezebel's brother, for her sake.

"So, what's got you on the run this time?" He took a couple of drags from his cig.

Confused and a little shocked at John's question, Richard looked to him to see if he was messing with him, "You're... You're actually wanting to get to know me?"

"Not exactly getting to know you, mate.... Just making conversation."

Unbeknownst to them, Jezebel stood in the door behind them. She had quietly snuck there when they were talking about Jez, and John's first encounter with them. She was going to tell them that everything was ready, but John stepped in with the question he asked Richard before she could.

She noticed Richard looked to his knees, unsure of whether he was able to tell him; he skeptically looked to John, before responding, "I'm running from some people I tried to get in a fight with... Some people I owe money..."

John wanted to comment on it being for drugs, but instead held back and smirked, "Well, I'm sure Chas and I could help with that problem. We can make 'em disappear if you really need it."

Richard raised an eyebrow at him; smiling as he saw John was half joking, "Heh, would be doing me a favour there."

This time, Jezebel thought to step in; she really wanted to get this over with, honestly. She did want to do the plan, it was her idea after all. It was more of the pains she received after Jez's visits that bothered her most, especially how the brand on her back ached afterwards. She thought, if they just got it over with, the sooner she would be able to relax and get rid of the pains.

"Well, fellas, everything's ready; if you would kindly come back in, we can get started." She grinned, crouching down between the two men; she had her arms around their shoulders.

"Get started with what?" Richard looked between his sister and John, a huge look of confusion on his face.

"A little plan we came up with to get a bit of information outta Jez." John replied, starting to get up; he flicked the unfinished cigarette to the floor in front of the lodge.  
  
" _We?_  I'm pretty sure it was me who came up with the idea, John." Jezebel raised her eyebrow, smirking.

"Yeah. Yeah." John gently shoved Jezebel back into the lodge, Richard following pursuit, "Just get in there, so we can get this over with." 

In preparation for setting up, Jezebel climbed up onto the single bed that she and Chas had set up in the living area. She sat on it, and waited for John to return. Richard awkwardly stood with his gaze to the ground. He was worried over his little sister.

"Jezzy, what if this goes wrong?" He finally looked at her, "I.... I don't want to lose you... I've lost you before, and I don't want it to happen again, not permanently."

She raised her eyebrows, a little astonished that he would comment something like that considering he wasn't one to talk about how he felt; she studied his facial features, seeing he was generally concerned about her. She tilted her head.

"Richy... I can't promise it won't go right... Jez can be unpredictable at times... But, I assure you... John will do anything he can to protect me... and you." She attempted to give him a smile, a rather wee one at that; she was so unsure of what would happen herself and how Jez would react to forcibly getting information out of them.

John returned, holding a book and a couple of vials; he, himself, attempted a small smile, "On with the show then?"

Jezebel nodded, slowly leaning herself back. She looked up at John, giving him an unsure look on whether she should go through with the plan or not. He gave her a reassuring smile, calming her slightly. She laid back completely this time, looking over at him. He gave her a items that he knew helped her to calm down and relax a lot more. Some items he knew would help her sleep, going to where they needed her to go: a small pouch of lavender and her small German Shepherd Dog soft toy - named Charlie -.

She got herself comfortable, before she looked up at John. She gave a very small hint of worry in her eyes, as she did, but she quickly nodded to him to get started with their plan. He began the spell that he tended to use to help her sleep - which Jezebel had only recently found out about it -, causing her to relax further and retreat into her mind.   
  


~ Inner Monologue ~   
Skeptically smiling, Jez asked, "Why, all of a sudden, do you want me to come out? You hate it when I make an appearance, as fun as I am. You never willingly want me to come out..."They paused, before grinning widely, "... Except for that one time and we all know how that ended up. Hmm, Jezzy?" 

"I know, but this time," Jezebel sighed; pausing, she gave a small smile, "John needs your help... He's really got himself stuck this time..." 

 "You do know, I can hear everything outside of here. Don't think I didn't hear  _parts_ of your plan." Jez laughed; they become more quieter, when mentioning of Jezebel's plan. 

"That maybe so, but John really does want to talk to you." Shrugging, Jezebel turned her back on Jez, "But... If you don't wanna see him...." 

"Woah, I never said I didn't want to take part. Plus I kinda like your brother...." Jez stopped her; they smirked, "He's easy to piss off." 

~ Inner monologue finished ~ 

Jez took over Jezebel's body without warning; only, they found that they were tied to a bed. They struggled to free themselves.Angrily shouting, Jez still struggled, "What is the fucking meaning of this?!" 

John stepped to the foot of the bed, so that he was looking over Jez's head, "We didn't want you cheating your way out on us." 

"Now, why would I do that, Constantine? I have no reason to...." Jez smirked up at him. 

"Bullshit, don't give me that." Jez laughed, looking down; they spotted Richard, who was stood a lot further back then John. Jez laughed, "You afraid you're gonna lose ya temper again, Richy?" 

John grabbed their face with one hand, now kneeling beside the bed. He was frowning, with furrowed brows, "Ignore him. I'm the one that wants to talk." 

"Aw, but I wanted to play. He seems so much fun. Don't ya, Richy?" Jez pouted, and then grinned upon seeing in the corner of their eye that Richard was getting angrier, "Ya know Richy, something I don't get is you still think Jezzy is gonna forgive you. Why would she, after you left her, only coming back for money? You know she's never gonna forgive you."

 John was able to see that Richard was about to lunge, once again, for Jez, "Don't even think about it, mate. Remember: you hurt Jez, you hurt Belle. Stick to those rules I told you. Ignore Jez. Everything she says is a lie." 

Raising an eyebrow, Jez still smirked, "How do you know I'm a lady, Johnny?" 

He looked back at Jez, brows still furrowed, "What?" 

"You assume I'm female because I'm in a female body. How do you know I'm not? You, of all people, should know demons are deceptive lil' creatures." 

John folded his arms, "Okay, so tell us a bit about you." 

"Oh, so now you want to know something about me? After 10 years or so of knowing Jezzy?" Jez gave a rather saddened laugh. 

"Yeah, and now I'm asking. We both know you're the chatty type, so you'd be more than happy to willingly talk... So talk?" 

"You're not very much of a people person are you, Constantine?" Jez smirked looking up at him; their smirk grew into a grin, when John raised an eyebrow at them, "I take that as a big no." 

"Hmm, can't you just pin me down, these ropes are rather tight," Jez laughed, before attempting to look rather innocent, lengthening his name, "Joh-hn." 

They gave him a flirty look, "Hmm? You know it might help me loosen up a bit and talk more..." 

He raised an eyebrow again, frowning, "Hmm, I'm sure you would." 

"Uh-huh... I would..." Jez playfully pouted as they nodded. 

Sighing and still frowning, he played along with Jez's games, "Tell ya what, if you co-operate, I'll loosen one at a time... You don't... well, we'll see when we get to that." Folded his arms, "Deal?" 

"Not much of deal from my end, if you ask me..." Jez rolled their eyes, looking off to their other side. 

"Is it a deal or not?" John became a little frustrated.

"Woah, okay; it's a deal..." Jez smirked, putting their hands up as best as they could; slowly blinked as they looked to John, "So, where would you like me to start?"

"H-how about the way you died?" Richard stepped forward a small fraction, "Or a proper name?" 

Jez grinned down toward Richard, "Wouldn't you like to know." 

"Answer him." John gave a stern, frustrated response. 

"Hey, you never said he was part of the deal." Jez continued to grin. 

Unfolding his arms, John leant against the bedpost, "I said if you co-operate, meaning with anyone that asks you what we want to know." 

 "Ugh, fine." Jez sighed, before they turned to look at Richard again, "If you must know, Jez is technically my real name: Johanna Elaine Zorrensen, so that honestly worked in my favour.... As for the first question, I was tricked into my death."

They sadly looked away from all eye contact; anger lurked deep in their eyes, "I thought they were my friends.... They lured me into that cemetery... They tricked me into doing those things that got me killed. They didn't even care to tell anyone where I was...." 

John, actually becoming slightly curious, asked, "Why was it that specific cemetery they lured you to?" 

"Because, all my life I was the outcast. I've had a fascination for all things supernatural... Specifically witches and their spells. You see, the village we lived in, it was full of that kind of stuff... It's history was based on the legends of the witches buried in the cemetery up on the hill." Jez turned to him; they were becoming more saddened, "They knew of this - like everyone there did -, and they knew of my strong fascination with it too. They used what I got enjoyment out of against me.... I had little connection to others as it was; I didn't feel anything toward others, whether they were a homeless stranger or a brother or sister. I felt nothing." 

"I'm not surprised there. Also that's called a sociopath." John commented under his breath. 

Jez glared at him, "Hmm, as I was. I may have felt little tidbits of emotion, but that was all it was: little bits...." 

"So what was it that they wanted you to do?" Richard asked. 

Jez looked toward him again with a raised eyebrow, "They had me read a spell off an unmarked grave..."

"Pfft, that doesn't sound dangerous... Those kind of spells are mostly for protection of the grave; even if spoken, they wouldn't do harm." John gave a small laugh. 

"Well, if you wait, I would tell you what actually caused me to die!" Jez angrily shouted; more quietly, commenting, "Imbecile." 

John glared at Richard, who was trying to hold back laughter; he folded his arms, while looking back at Jez, "Okay, go on." 

"I don't think any of us truly knew that the specific grave I was at was unsafe. Well, the ground it was on wasn't. Though, part of me thinks they did. Part of me thinks they knew a lot of that ground was unsafe, considering it was set up on a hill. I, foolishly thinking these were my friends and they wouldn't let anything really bad happen to me, followed their orders to continue sitting there and reading the spell." Jez paused, "The floor collapsed beneath me. Next thing I knew, there was darkness." 

"So, how did you find out that you were dead." 

"I didn't. Not at first. It took me until I discovered the people from the morgue taking my body away that I was dead. I had apparently been there for over a week. You know, that group didn't even tell anyone? Not even after that? It was in fact the cemetery maintenance that found me. They didn't even care enough to tell people of where I was or what had happened to me... All because they didn't want to get into trouble with their mummies and daddies" Jez was clearly becoming angry, "They were the ones that deserved to die, not me!" 

"How did you come across Jezebel?" 

"How'd I come across your little damsel?" Jez glanced down at him; they smiled, letting out a light laugh, "I wasn't immediately attracted to her... It actually took a while... from what I was told. It took little over 50 years, apparently. But, in honesty it was the sadness that she had that caught my attention..." Quietly added, "Along with those little witchy powers she has." 

Richard looked to John in confusion, "What does it mean about Jezebel having witch powers? She doesn't have witch powers, she can just see ghosts, right?" 

"We'll come back to that." John turned to Jez, who was giving a mid-glare to him.

"Would you tell him to stop calling me an 'it'. I may be a demon, but I have feelings as well." Jez hinted at Richard, frowning up at John. 

"Yeah, yeah. I'm pretty sure someone like you would get bored sooner or later of just one person..." John shoved his hands into his pockets, looking to retrieve his lighter and packet of cigarettes; he lit one, and placed it between his lips, in the corner. He took the cigarette between his fingers and folded his arms over, careful not burn himself, "Why didn't you leave Jezebel's body?" 

"Constantine, darling, if I knew how to do that; I would have left by now. But, other than that and being comfy.. I kinda like the idea of having her do stuff for me, whenever I want." 

Jez gave a huge grin up at John, who sneered at her.

"Uh-huh. And I'm guessing she was the first one you possessed?" 

"Pretty much." They shrugged. 

"Meaning you could 'ave hurt her, badly... A 10 year old girl when you met her. And you didn't care, did you?" 

"On the contrary, Johnny boy; I did care. You see I could feel that we had been through similar experiences: the bullying. The being seen as an outcast." 

"How old were you?" Richard quietly asked, though loud enough to be heard. 

Jez looked to him, raising an eyebrow, "Huh? When?" 

"When you died. How old were you then?" 

 "I was 15." 

More to himself, John commented, "No wonder you seem a bit childish at times." 

"I know a lot more than you at times, though." They grinned. 

"Uh-huh." He took one last drag of his cigarette, before throwing it to the ground and stomping on it; he looked back at Jez. 

"So, is that why Jezzy allowed you in? Because you looked older?" Richard asked - showing he was a lot more confident talking to Jez without having the feeling to lunge. 

"Probably." Jez shrugged; they gave a small grin, "But, it may also be that she didn't have an older figure to look after her, or that the one older figure she did count on, left her. All alone. No one to turn to." 

"Enough of that." John stepped in, but was shoved aside by Richard, causing him to almost trip on his feet. 

"No," 

Jezebel suddenly took back control, "Richy, please. John knows best. Listen to him." 

"Aw, c'mon Jezzy, he wants to have some fun with me," Jez swapped back, smiling; they looked to Richard, seeing he was annoyed, "Maybe he'd like it if I told him of how you killed your family, even your poor innocent little brother." 

"Shut up, you!" Jezebel came back in, having the run of her body. 

"Or how you would sell yourself, at the tender age of 16... Oops, I don't think you wanted John to know that either did you." They grinned, glancing over at John, who was understandably shocked. 

"D-don't listen to her! She's lying!" Jezebel cried, shaking her head. 

Jez took control, once again, "Hey, I'm pretty sure by now, John would be able to tell if you're the one lying or not, sweetie. Ain't that right, Constantine?" 

John angered, having enough of how Jez was tormenting Jezebel; he stepped closer, sneering at them, "Enough!" 

"You're right there, John, darling." Jez beamed, looking rather sinister; before anymore could be done, they threw John a lot further than they had wanted, and grabbed Richard by the throat - using what they could of their demon powers, "Now I can have proper fun!" 

Jez loosened the ties around their wrists and ankles, freeing themselves to take over for their magic. They took hold of Richard, raising him high above their head. They turned to see John was injured, but not too much as he weakly attempted to get back to his feet; Jez tutted, "Ah-ah, Constantine, stay put. I want a lil' talk with our new friend." 

Jez turned their attention back to Richard, who seemed to be having trouble breathing; they grinned, glancing back at John, again, "See, John, it's a lot more fun when I'm able to play properly now, isn't it?"

"Hell no." He was just about able to hold himself up on the couch; he narrowed his gaze at Jez, as he noticed they were showing off. 

Apparently a little too much, as Richard quickly lost consciousness. He limply hung by Jez's grip. Jez didn't realise how he was, and continued with their bragging of how they escaped. John kept his view on Jez, that was until he noticed himself how flimsy Richard hung there. The adrenaline kicking in, John leapt to his feet. He was quickly able to pull Jezebel back out, and keep Jez in. He then turned to Richard. John having to do a bit of CPR in order to get him breathing.  

Jezebel began panicking - thinking the worst of the situation; she goes to huddle on the couch, while John continued to work on Richard. For a while, it didn't seem like anything was working, but John did manage to get a shallow pulse. He didn't want to get Jezebel's hopes up, so kept it on the down low for a short while. For the next few days, Richard was kept in a coma-type sleep.

Jezebel continued to think the worst of the situation - now knowing that her brother was only in a coma -, and thinking she was going to lose him. She huddled in on herself, not talking much to anyone for the following couple of days. She stopped eating pretty much anything, causing her to be told constantly by both Chas and John to eat something, along with a lot of cuddles. 

Not realizing she would do it on her own or even around people, she would list all the things she had done wrong or how she could have better the relationship. The limit to how long John could keep Richard in the coma-sleep for came, and luckily Richard had a gained consciousness by the time it did. He looked a lot better, save for looking severely beaten. Needless to say, Jezebel was ecstatic.    


	43. The Grand Galloping Gala

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another pony chapter :3

Jezebel sat in her usual spot: her mini library; she was reading when she heard something light drop to the floor. Her ears twitched to the unusual noise. She looked toward the door, curious to what could have come through the letterbox considering they rarely got any letters. Sure, they got parcels when John or she couldn't get what they wanted straight away, but rarely letters.

She saw a golden envelope, to which was attached a slightly bigger white one. She tilted her head, closing her book. She got up from her comfortable seat, and went to check on what the letter could be about. Before she could, John swooped in and scooped the letter up with his unicorn magic. He ripped it open, taking out the letter within the golden envelope. He gave a look of surprise as he viewed what looked like an invitation to Jezebel.

"What?!" She tried peering over his shoulder, "What is it?"

"It's tickets... to the Grand Galloping Gala?" His brows furrowed as he opened the letter in the white envelope.

This one, Jezebel took the liberty of reading herself; she took the letter in her hooves and began reading. She got a shock herself, when she did. John saw the slight confusion on her face.

"What is it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow; she handed him the letter.

"Princess Luna - of all ponies - has asked we attend the Gala." She blinked, and quickly looked back at the letter now in John's hooves, "She said she expects that someone or something will interrupt the gala, with very bad intentions. She asked that we could possibly help sort them out or at the least keep them at bay."

John frowned, "Hmm, there's always a catch."

"John, she is the princess." Jezebel smirked; her gaze fell on his face.

"Hey, that might be so, but she could 'ave at least let us think we were being invited for the sake of being invited until we got there." He shrugged, with a small smile.

"Are we going?"

"Not like we can ignore what one of the princesses say, is it?" He raised an eyebrow, sending a smug smile her way.

"I guess not." She smiled back.

A week prior to the Gala, Jezebel did a ton of research to prepare herself for who or what could potentially appear at the gala. She also searched into how she would need to act at the Gala - for the sake of not embarrassing herself or getting unwanted attention. She knew John - on the other hand - didn't give a damn about that sort of thing, and for that she envied him. She sat in her usual spot of by her mini library once again, when he approached behind her.

"You know, we probably won't be there for long, or if that we'd be behind the scenes, so there's no need to learn all that, luv." He smiled at her; he leaned against the armchair she sat in.

"I just want to be safe, John."

"From what? The 'monster' or the guests?" He gave a knowing grin, shifting to more her level, he sat beside her.

She sighed, closing her book, "Both, I guess."

"Uh-huh." His grin shrunk into a more sweet, sincere smile, "Belle, those hoity toity lot; they don't know a good book when it hits them in the face... They only judge a book by its cover, and not by its content... Excuse the expressions."

She gave a light laugh, "It fits though."

"I suppose we should get something fancy to wear to this shindig." He cringed at the thought of dressing in clothing like what he had seen on those trotting around Canterlot and Trottingham.

"OH!" She smiled widely, cantering off to her room, "I have something that will fit to the occasion!"

John shook his head, his gaze following the now excited Jezebel; he smiled, "Heh, she always did like dressing fancy."

Much later, she emerged from her room; she was wearing a red dress that flowed over her flanks, and fitted perfectly. She had her coat over the top, though it didn't feel right. She sighed when she saw it still didn't look right. She trotted up to John.

"John," She fiddled with the coat, attempting to get it to look good, "How do you think I should have my coat over my dress... I'm not going without it, so it stays on it."

He turned to view what she was talking about, only for a small tinge of blush to appear on his white fur. He shook it off, as he stood from his seat and began circling Jezebel. Him looking her over actually caught her off guard, causing Jezebel to blush. The bright red blush appearing was quite obvious on her own white fur.

"I think I know who can help. I saw a fashion outlet not far from here."

"A fashion boutique in this area of Trottingham?" Jezebel cocked her head.

"I know right." He chuckled.

Later, the two of them trot down to the shop John was explaining earlier; upon arriving at it, they saw that it was actually set in the right area and looked to be run very well. It was tall that was for sure, and very purple. Its exterior completely decorated in different shades of purple. The odd bit of white, and the windows lined with gold. Jezebel looked up at the huge door in front of them, up a small set of stairs.   
  
Entering the boutique - a bell going off - , they immediately identified a long walkway, where of which have a curtain at the end of it; looking around, they also spy the till, and a few clothing racks dotted around. A short mare around Jezebel's height walked out of the door behind the counter. Her fur was cream in colour and contrasted well with aquamarine hair. Jezebel spotted the flower barrette behind the mare's left ear. She had such an aspect of uneasiness to her face. She seemed to be shocked that she had customers upon noticing John and Jezebel.

"Oh, hello," She seemed to have a nervous demeanor about her no matter the situation, but she smiled nonetheless, "Umm, how can I help?"

As John went to step toward the much smaller mare in front of him, he was gently pushed back by Jezebel; she stepped forward herself with caution in her step for fear of scaring the skittish mare before her, "We were wondering if you wouldn't mind helping us prepare a couple of outfits ready for the Gala in a few days?"

"Oh, of course," She smiled shyly; she hinted for the two of them to follow her up the stairs at the back of the boutique, "Is there any kind of dress you have in mind?"

She looked toward Jezebel when they reached the top of the stairs; evidently this was where she took her customers to get sketches and ideas of what they wanted - in other words her workspace -. Coco continued forward toward the desk, readying the pencil in her hoof.

"Umm, well, I was hoping for something involving a trench coat based look... You know, like based on my coat?" Jezebel used her unicorn magic to further indicate she what she was talking about, "Maybe with added dress features?"

"Ok-ay." Coco hummed to herself as she quickly sketched a design; she quickly finished up a rough look, "How's this?"

Jezebel looked over the sketch in awe, quite amazed at how it came out in the short amount of time that Coco drew it; she took the drawing in her hooves to get a better look, before looking back at Coco with a smile, "I love it."

"That is good to hear!" Coco beamed brightly, retrieving the drawing back from Jezebel and setting it on her desk; she then looked at John, before saying, "I'll get on with your outfit as soon as I can."

"Oh... you don't need to do that." John sat beside Jezebel; he shook his hooves, giving an awkward smile, "I...uhh, I have something back home."

"Please, I already have something in mind..." Coco pleaded, putting her front hooves together.

John rubbed the back of his neck with a hoof, "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt..."

"Of course it won't, ya big softy," Jezebel grinned, hugging him; she turned to look back at Coco Pommel, "Don't suppose I could get a sneak peek before he does?"

Coco smiled, slowly nodding her head, "I don't see why not, though measurements will need to be taken, so he will most likely see it too."

As the week went on, their gala outfits were coming along too; there were just the odd detail that Coco needed to add before she say that they were completed. Though Jezebel told him that he couldn't see before it was ready, John kept trying to peek at what her dress looked like. The same could be said for her when it came to trying to look at his new suit. John's outfit was the first to completed.

He stepped out of the changing room to see Jezebel boredly lounging on the large bubble chair. She glanced up from the fashion magazine she had forced herself to read. Her mouth dropped open, but quickly closed it as a grin grew on her face.

"Looking good, sir Constantine." She grinned jumping up; she walked around him, looking his outfit over.

"I know right; didn't think I'd make it work..." He proudly grinned, using his magic to straighten the red ascot he wore around his neck; along with this, he had his coat over a black waistcoat and his hair slicked back.

"Hmm, you do." She bit her bottom lip, before shaking her head; she smiled widely, looking up at him now, "You should dress like that more often."

"Heh, I guess so." He smiled.

Coco, wrapping the measuring tape loosely around her neck, trotted out of the changing room John had exited earlier; she looked over at Jezebel, "What do you think?"

"I think it looks great." Jezebel smiled back at her, still looking John over.

"Would you like to come through and finish your dress off now?" Coco smiled at her.

"Oh yeah." She trotted after Coco going back into the room.

Half an hour later, and Jezebel's outfit was completed also. Her mane was in a loose ponytail, her tail in a similar style. The dress was mainly set out to look like a trench coat, with the odd red for a dress effect; this was only put in two places: the hem of the dress, and around the neck, representing her scarf. Along with this, Jezebel wore a pair of stud earrings.

"It's definitely beautiful," She stood tugging at the hem of the dress; she glanced at Coco, with an unsure expression, "But, are you sure it looks good on me, Miss Pommel?"

"I'm pretty sure." Coco smiled, adding a couple of final touches, "And please, call me Coco."

"Okay... if you're sure, Coco." Jezebel smiled back

Coco finished up what she was doing, before circling Jezebel to look the dress over, "I think it is about finished... Would you like to show your coltfriend?"

She blushed, lifting a hoof and her ears flattening, "Umm, he... he isn't my coltfriend... He's more just a partner."

"Oh?" Coco looked at her questionably.

"Should we go show John?" Jezebel stepped toward the door of the changing room, not giving the choice to the fashion pony now behind her.

Coco quickly rushed to step in front of the slightly taller mare, and stopped her, "Would you mind if I went first I want to see his face when he sees you come out of here? I want to see his reaction to the dress."

"Oh, of course," Jezebel smiled as she stepped back; Coco slid out the door, while Jezebel stood behind it.

She looked out the door to see that John - still in his new outfit was sat chilled out on the lounging chair; he had a newspaper over his muzzle and looked to be asleep. As Coco stepped closer to him, she confirmed this suspicion as a light snoring came from John. She giggled, tapping his hoof.

"Mr Constantine?" She asked, holding a hoof to her mouth, "Umm, Miss Jezebel's dress is done, and she would like to show you, would that be alright?"

"What?" John sprung up, spreading the papers all over the place, and confused at first; he then saw Coco - who had stepped back a slight bit -, before smiling, "Oh, sure."

She nodded to Jezebel to step out; John leaned down to pick up the papers he had thrown about the place, though quickly dismissed the task, when he saw Jezebel. He stood straight up, now admiring the dress covering her. She was shyly stomping at the ground with her front right hoof. He trotted over to her, looking rather excited himself.

"It looks nice." He grinned.   
  
"Just nice?" Jezebel raised an eyebrow at him, with a small grin.

"Well," He gave a rather malicious smirk, before raising his own eyebrows, "Do you really want me to say what I'm really thinking?"

Jezebel deeply blushed, her eyes widening slightly in shock; she gently shoved passed him, trotting back to the changing rooms.

Coco's gaze followed after Jezebel; her own cheeks slightly flushed, "Well, that happened."

Much later, after recovering from John's little comment, the two of them made their way home; they had their purchases in bag, back in their regular clothing. They trotted side-by-side, down the country lane. John was smoking, admiring the scenery as he did. Jezebel kept glancing at him.

"You alright there, luv?" He gave a small smile, raising a curious eyebrow.

"Yes..." She paused, "Just curious,"

"Yeah, 'bout what?" He looked at her, though through a side glance; still with the small smile.

"Jus' stuff..." She quickly looked away.

"Is that a bit of blush I see on your cheeks there?" He leaned toward her, to be in front of her, getting a clearer look at the smaller mare.

"No." She lowered her head, and quickly walked around him; she began trotting at a faster pace.

"Aw, c'mon, luv, something you're thinking about that makes you blush like that... gotta be something worth telling?" He grinned knowingly.

"John..." She pouted, turning to look angrily at him, before sighing and trotting on, "Just shut it." 

"Woah, I was only stating what it seemed like to me." He continued to grin, trotting to be in front of her; this caused her to pause, "So, what was ya curious about?"

"Nothing. Just... Forget it." She pouted, now cantering ahead of him and back to the lodge.

"Mares," John shook his head, before cantering after her.

A couple of days and a train ride later, the gala had arrived; John stood waiting by the door of his and Jezebel's hotel room. He was waiting for Jezebel to finish getting ready. He looked to his watch on his left hoof, sighing as he did. He then glanced at Jezebel's room, not seeing the door open.

"Luv, c'mon." He called, sounding a slight bit impatient, "We're gonna be late."

For a while, she didn't answer; not until she trotted out, trying to keep a piece of her hair back from her face. John looked at her, suddenly blushing. She smiled up at him, looking rather innocent. He gave a lopsided smile back, and opened the door to their suite.

"You look great, sweet 'eart." He grinned; he gave a bow, and hinted for her to exit.

"John," She was the one to blush now, shaking her head, "I don't. Just get your butt out there."

"Ladies first." He smirked, "And yes, you do. You look stunning, darlin'."

She huffed, smiling; walking out of the suite. She whipped his cheek with her tail, giving a giggle, "Honey, I'm far from a 'lady', you should know that by now,"

A small silence passed, as he was looking downwards; he looked toward her plot. He gave a chuckle, "Don't I know, though, you do look like one, as of now."

He followed her out, as they trot down the corridor. They weren't that far from the Canterlot Castle, so their walk wasn't that exhausting. They entered the castle, seeing guards at every entrance. They were stood tall, the serious expression on their faces. As the two of them passed the guards by the main entrance, Jezebel gazed up at one of them, looking in awe.

Getting out of earshot, she glanced up at another tall stallion - John, "Hey, they're almost as tall as you."

"Luv, I'm not that tall." John raised an eyebrow as he glanced at her, with a smile.

"You're like a moose." She giggled

"I'm not... Chas is taller than me."

"Yeah, and he's a giant."

As they trot through the castle, John shivered; he felt watched, like he was being followed. Jezebel looked to him, raising an eyebrow, "You okay?"

"Yeah, just... Nah, nevermind. It was probably nothing."

They continued on, coming to the main hallway; stood at the top of the stairs, the two princesses: Celestia and Luna. Both wearing a gorgeous dress each, themed to their element: Luna the moon, and Celestia the sun. As they stood, they were able to look over the guests who entered. Luna's serious frown, changed to that of a relieved look. She gracefully started toward John and Jezebel, leaving her sister to gaze after her.

Jezebel looked at her, whispering to John - who was also giving a serious look -, "She's even prettier in person."

"We are glad you have arrived. We are very much in need of your help." She gave a smile to them, "Thank you for coming. We are glad you got our letter."

"So, uh, Princess." John started, "What is this issue that you are so worried about?"

Luna's face took on a distressed expression, before she inspected around them; she seemed to be examining to see if anyone was near them or listening to their conversation. She looked back at John and Jezebel, "We are glad you have questions.. But, we... can not answer them here.."

John and Jezebel glanced between one another, before looking back at the princess of the night. They slowly nod at her request. She led them to the royal gardens, while her sister dealt with the guests at the gala. The guards around that area asked if the princess required anything, getting a head shake in response from the princess. The guards left, Luna now turning to her two guests in front of her.

"I expect you have a bundle of questions, and starting now I shall answer them." Luna gave a small nod, indicating she was ready.

John stepped forward, "Well, I guess the first question to ask is, who do you think will make a possible appearance tonight?"

Luna indicated for the two ponies before her to sit, as she did so herself; she sighed before answering, "My sister and I expect it may be a returning... scoundrel... King Sombra. He's famous...actually rather infamous for the disappearance of the Crystal Empire and it's many citizens, and then him returning 1000 years after. We thought he was defeated. We thought he had perished."

Jezebel tilted her head, looking up at the much taller alicorn princess, "How do you know he could return?"

The night princess looked toward her, "I... I had a dream. A lot of my dreams aren't just that. They are prophecies. I dreamt of his return.. Of this night being when he did."

"Well, shit." John's face took on a rather flat expression, and he had an annoyed tone to his voice.

"John!" Jezebel nudged the stallion beside her; frowning, she glared at him.

"What?" He questioned, leaning slightly away; his brows furrow.

"You can't swear in front of royalty." She hinted with her eyes toward Luna, who was tilting her head.

"Tis' perfectly fine, dear Jezebel." Luna gave a knowing nod; Jezebel looked at her, slight confusion on her face, "I do it myself, when I play my own games. I tend to lose my temper."

Jezebel smiled as she noticed the Princess of the Night was blushing slightly at her confession. She smiled back at Jezebel.

"See, look, she's basically like us; she's not an alien." John gave a small smirk, "Besides, even if she was bothered, I wouldn't be. Not like she can control what I say."

He goes to walk away, in search of possible clues for their case ahead. Luna caused him to freeze on the spot - using her magic -; she was shaking her head, looking rather amused.

"That, actually, isn't true. My sister and I could possibly control what you say, especially when it comes to that language, Mr Constantine." She was grinning almost. A rather mischievous grin, letting him go.

Before John or Jezebel could respond to her statement, Princess Celestia gracefully passed by the garden's entrance. She paused there, looking in. She continued into the gardens, once she spotted her younger sister. She glanced down with a smile at the two ponies beside her.

"Sister, I am sorry to pull you away from your guests, but I would like to discuss a private matter with you." Celestia wore a worried expression on her face; she kept eye contact with her sister.

"Oh, okay." Luna bit her bottom lip, then turned to John and Jezebel, "So sorry, but you must excuse me." 

"Please do enjoy the gala. We apologize once again; it is a rather important matter that I must discuss." Celestia gave an apologetic smile, "I am sure my sister or I will come in search of you, if we need you again."

John and Jezebel nod in response to the two princesses before them; they then trotted off to allow them their privacy. As they trotted into the main hall once again, they passed a blue pegasus, with black hair, sat with a mint coloured mare. John gave a frown, and looked to be thinking - falling slightly behind Jezebel as he did -.

He quickly caught up to her in very few steps, "Ya know, Belle, I think I know that stallion back there. By the door."

"Well, why don't you go talk to him?" She glanced over at him, raising an eyebrow, "I'm pretty sure that's what you're meant to do here, right? Socialise?"

"I don't think it would be as easy as walking up to him. I'm pretty sure he's royalty or very rich..."

"John, you do know we just talked to both princesses of Equestria, right?" She stopped, directly facing him now.

"Of course I do..."

"Go on then." She began shoving him toward the blue stallion; she then whispered, "That's Bruce Mane... Are you telling me you know Bruce Mane?"

"Yeah, I guess I do..." He stood still; due to him being a lot taller and stronger than she, he was able to stop them both, "You know, if I remember right, I think we worked together on something, a long while ago."

"You did?" She looked up at him with curiosity, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"Yeah, well I say it was him... But, I don't actually know... Bit of a suspicion, really."

"For what?"

"Well, you know that Batstallion roaming Canterlot?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's who I worked with; him and Zatanna. I might be wrong, but I took a wild guess that he's Bruce Mane.." He shrugged, "Meh, maybe I'm not that great of a detective as I think I am."

Bruce Mane glanced up from the mare he was talking with, and spotted John; he excused himself, slowly walking over to him. He tapped the slightly shorter stallion's shoulder, clearing his throat as he did to make it clear that his presence was there. John turned, looking annoyed.

"Don't I know you?" Bruce raised an eyebrow, looking slightly down at John, "Sorry if I'm wrong, but I feel like I've meet you before?"

  
"Uh, yeah, I think I might know ya, mate." John raised an eyebrow - mirroring the look the pony before him gave -; hinting toward the batstallion, he made the comment to see if it would get a reaction out of the stallion before him, "Ya know, it's a little batty... This; I wonder if there would perhaps be a stallion watching over the city, while the princesses are busy with this... party."

John did indeed get a reaction out of the stallion; he avoided his gaze, stepping back a slight bit. He looked around to see if there were any ponies standing around them, before frowning and looking back at John, "Maybe we should step somewhere else, if you want to discuss him."

John smirked, "We shall,"

John, Jezebel and Bruce trotted away from the crowded main hall; they found a room where no pony would look or was in. Bruce closed and locked the door behind them. He then sighed, before standing in front of John and Jezebel.

"So, I was right, Bruce Mane is Batstallion?" John gave a knowing smirk.

Bruce sighed once more, more so in frustration at John's ego; he then nodded, "You are in fact as egotistical as you were those few months ago, back in Ponyville."

"Don't I know," Jezebel stepped in, with a giggle; she smiled, "Also, don't worry; I already knew myself. Name's Jezebel."

Bruce glanced at her, "You're his new partner, right? I've heard a lot about you, when John and I worked together."

John glared at the blue stallion, a slight blush to his cheeks; he stepped in front of Jezebel, "Well, enough of that. We're here to enjoy this 'lovely' party, are we not?"

"You're slightly incorrect in that fact." Bruce stated, standing tall and looking serious, "I am actually here on business to do with a case."

"Well, what a coincidence, so are we." Jezebel enthusiastically grinned; John placed a hoof over her mouth, bringing her into a hug.

"That is true, but we have work do and I'm pretty sure you do too, sooo... We'll be leaving you now." He began gently shoving Jezebel toward the door; once out of the room Bruce stood, and out of earshot, he turned to Jezebel, "You know, he's gonna be following us to make sure we're not up to shit now."

"Oh, c'mon John." She smirked, walking off toward the main hall once again, "If he's here with a case, I'm pretty sure he would be too busy to be stalking us."

As she walked and talked with John, she failed to notice the light brown, unicorn stallion stood with his back to her. She ended up bumping into him, causing her to stumble back onto her rear and him to spill his drink.

"You clumsy fool!" He shouted, receiving a few stares from fellow guests; he turned quickly.

"S-sorry." Jezebel cowered slightly, lowering herself; her ears flattened, "I... I wasn't looking where I was going."

The stallion was about to continue his rant, but cocked his head; he frowned in thought, "Jezebel?"

She slowly looked up, seeing the stallion fully before her; she gasped lightly, "Tux?"

"You look... stunning." He smiled, helping her up; he stood close to her, "Even more so when I first met you all those years ago."

"Oh, umm, you don't look half bad yourself?" She awkwardly smiled; she blushed.

"Hmm," He smiled, "Are you still working as you did when you were younger?"

"N-n-no." She blushed harder, now avoiding his gaze and hoping John was too busy looking around for the suspect to hear, "I.. I work as an occult detective now."   
  


"Too bad, would have loved to try your services again; you were pretty amazing, if I remember correctly." He winked, causing Jezebel to cringe slightly, "Say, isn't an occult detective to do with ghosts and monsters, and stuff like that? I didn't take you for someone foolish enough to be into that sort of thing."

Looking hurt, Jezebel frowned; the blush had quickly gone away and she gave him a sour glare, "Yes, I do for a matter of fact."

She went to walk away, in an attempt to find John; only she was stopped by Tux grabbing her hoof. He gave a apologetic expression to her.

"I am truly sorry that I said those things just now." He sighed, looking to the floor; he looked ashamed of himself, "I honestly thought that part of me was gone... Since sorting myself out. I guess not."

Jezebel glanced back at him, seeing he was being genuine, "Oh?"

He looked to her, "I'm sorry Jezebel. I would like to start over. I didn't want you to be reminded of that part of me, I wanted you to see the new me. The improved me. I try to change for the better... but it doesn't work..."

She gave him a sympathetic look, placing a hoof on his shoulder, "You don't seem to be as bad as you used to..."

"Heh, thanks." He smiled a little, before looking up with a raised eyebrow, "So, an occult detective, huh?"

She nodded, smiling; he continued, "Well, that sounds interesting. You here on something to do with that?"

"Yes, actually; me and my partner, John, are working on a case Princess Luna wanted us to work on."

"Princess Luna, eh?" He smiled widely, "Must be well known for Princess Luna to hire you."

"I know right, I was pretty shocked myself when I read the letter she sent." Jezebel laughed.

"So, this partner of yours, romantic or not?"

"Oh, John? No. We just work together, and I stay at his place... It's huge.... He's just a very good friend. One that actually looks out for me."

"Oh... That's good..." He sweetly smiled, leaning more into her, "Because I want to make things better between us... Like we used to be... With the romance.. You and me."

"Woah." John cantered over, stepping between the stallion before him, attempting to kiss Jezebel, and herself, "Mate, a little weird you coming onto her like that. You just met."

"John, it's alright." She placed a gentle hoof on his shoulder; she stepped to the side of John.

"So, a stranger trying to kiss you is 'alright'?" He raised an eyebrow, "Luv, if you ask me, it's not."

"I know him. Well, I used to. When I was a teenager." She smiled sweetly up at him; she held back a laugh as she noticed John was actually slightly shorter than Tux, but still tried to act bigger than him - he was puffing out his chest and trying to look more dominant.

Tux gave an amused chuckle, "Your partner amuses me. He thinks he's bigger than he actually is. I didn't take you for the type of girl to hang around with ponies with big egos, Jezebel, dear."

Getting up in the other stallion's muzzle, John shouted - receiving a few glances from the other guests -, "What the fuck you on about? She has a better fucking choice with me than she had with you, mate."

A shadow taking over the entire room distracted both stallions from their arguing. The darkness took over the room; complete blackness filling any gap, small or large. Suddenly, the main doors open. Standing in them was a pony that Luna and Celestia had predicted would make a return that night.

A pony that many other ponies feared for the shear fact that he exhibited a menacing demeanor. A red and yellow glow to him made him appear more evil than he actually was. He frowned as he examined the room before him. His muzzle formed into that of a grin.

He nodded, causing a dim light to take over the room; he examined much clearer the ponies in the surrounding room before him. He smiled. A loud, booming voice took over the whole room, yet Sombra's mouth did not move. All the ponies looked around, seeing where it came from. They came to the conclusion that it was a light yellow stallion with dark blue hair had green and red eyes, that had purple smoke whispering out of his eyes.

"I take it you wonder why I am here?"

He laughed as he moved to a light blue mare with cream hair, "That shouldn't be too much trouble."

"To guess..." His voice took on a grimace; he swapped again to another stallion, "That your so called heroes - the elements of harmony - are ones to attempt murder... They chose to send me to my death... unlike some of their already reformed friends that may have committed worse crimes."

"How is that fair?!" He barked.   
  
A raspy female voice spoke up from the crowd before Sombra, "Ha, like that's unfair. You caused a whole empire to become traumatised and put them into slavery."

It was Rainbow Dash - the element of loyalty -; she chuckled, "I'll show you what's unfair, ya huge smoke dork."

Sombra growled at the rainbow haired pony before him; he angered very quickly. He stepped forward, intentions of lunging for the pegasus. Batstallion glided down to stand between Rainbow Dash and Sombra. He almost towered over the villain. He puffed out his chest and sneered at the steel pony before him.

"Oh my gosh!" Rainbow Dash squealed, "Batstallion!"

Twilight Sparkle gave an awkward laugh as she pulled Rainbow Dash away from the two tall stallions, "Heh, heh, sorry."

Batstallion glared back at King Sombra; he barked, "You're insane if you think you can get away with this. I would like to see you try."

Sombra laughed in the bat-clad pony, "Hmm, I'd like to see you stop me. I have more power than you could ever have."

"I bet one of these... Ponies." He grinned as he looked around at the ponies backing away, "Could even have more power than you."

His grin widened, his gaze landing on a stallion known to Batstallion. He caught glimpse of John - who still had thoughts of giving Tux a 'what for' speech. He slowly walked toward the white stallion, grin still in place. The crowd of ponies parted as he did; he changed to a smoke once again. Disappearing completely as he came within a few steps of John.   
  
In that moment, the rest of the guests gazed toward John, who gave a much surprised look. His brows furrowed, his mouth forming a frown. His lips parted about to ask Jezebel about it. That was until he clamped his eyes shut in pain; he had to stand with his legs spread in a way that would keep him stable as he felt an intense pain in both his head and chest. This being because John was trying to resist Sombra taking over his body.

Jezebel looked at him in horror, not being able to do much, as he collapsed to the ground, his body shaking and convulsing. She attempted to hold him down, as a way to stop him from hurting himself. Eventually these effects subdued, although in place of John, there seemed to be a different stallion.

Evident by the darkened fur, the steel pony horn. Also, the rougher, darker looking hair, and the beard look on his chin. But, most of all, his eyes. They had a purple smoke emerging from them. The pupils and iris were now a series of dark reds. His sclera was an almost neon green.

Sombra John chuckled, raising himself from the ground; he gazed around, with a rather amused expression at the scared ponies before him. His gaze stopped on Jezebel, who was sat back, looking unimpressed Sombra had decided to do this. He gracefully approached her, a sinister grin on his muzzle.

"Hmm, you my dear would make a good queen beside me..." He leaned more into her, a suggestive tone to his voice, "And maybe later, something a little... more."

Jezebel blushed at his comment; she attempted to back away, only to bump into the wall behind her. He caressed her cheek with a hoof, causing her to close her eyes. Before she knew it, they had disappeared from the main room and made the guests panic. The two of them reappeared in one of the royal bedrooms.

She quickly looked around, not seeing Sombra John at first; she saw him behind her, pressing hard into her. She squeaked as she jumped back, again backing into the wall behind her.

"Y-You stay away from m-me... a-and leave John. G-get out of him." She frowned, sitting on her rear with her front hooves raised.

  
"You don't want to save him yourself?" He grinned; he raised an eyebrow, "You don't want to rescue him, be his hero?"

When she didn't respond, he continued with taunting her, "You wouldn't want him to die, do you? You don't want to be the cause of his death, do you?"

She slowly shook her head; repeating the word 'no' as she did. Sombra John smirked at her distress. He continued on.

"You know, if he does give in to resisting me, he could cause some of those stuck up ponies downstairs to be killed too, though it would be your fault considering you haven't tried to stop me."

"No! Stop it! We'll stop you!" She shook, now looking up at him; she had only a slight anger to her eyes, which was slightly covered by the sadness.

Sombra John laughed, "Who is this 'we' you speak of? I don't see anyone coming to help you or your John... You are alone."

"No.... I'm not." She lowered her gaze once again.

"Unless..." He paused with a half smirk, "Unless you become my queen. I will spare these... ponies. I will spare all of them, if you will be mine."

She looked up actually considering his offer as a way to help the other ponies; her gaze lowered about to say yes, when she frowned, "No. I know you're not a killer, Sombra."

"Am I not?" He dared her to go on with a smirk.

"No. Otherwise you would have done so by now, especially if revenge was truly what you wanted." She stood up, attempting to stand her ground; he stepped toward her, causing her to flinch only slightly.

"Hmm, do you truly believe that? Would you honestly risk the lives of others to test that?" He strode toward her, stopping mere inches from her; he grinned at her lowering gaze, "I didn't think so."   
  


His grin widened when he saw she was completely pressed against the wall; he approached her, almost with eagerness. He leaned against her, further pushing her against the wall. He half closed his eyes, tilting his head slightly.   
  
He, once again, caressed her cheek with a hoof, before he used it to keep her in place. The other he used to squeeze up the inner part of her gaskin. This made her feel a little uneasy, causing her to flinch almost.

An outside voice could be heard from within the room; one of which sounded with worry, "I think I heard something in here. I'll check it out."

A guard abruptly entered the huge bedroom; he gave a look of surprise as he spotted that Sombra was pretty much on top of Jezebel, "Guards! I found the suspect! He is the Dove Quarters!"

The much smaller stallion stepped up to Sombra John, drawing his sword with his unicorn magic; he sneered at the villain before him. He took it upon himself to attempt an attack on Sombra John, who gave an unimpressed, but an amused look. Sombra John gave a smirk, before plunging his horn into the stallion guard. The rest of the guards entered the room, during the moment that the guard dropped from Sombra John's horn.

"No!" Jezebel screeched, witnessing the smaller stallion's death before her eyes; she went to step forward, that was until Sombra held a hoof up causing her to pause.

Throughout the whole ordeal, she just knew that John was able to see and hear all of what was happening. She also knew that as soon as everything was sorted, if it was sorted, that he would put the entire blame on himself. She felt this would add to the long list of events he blamed himself for, but was not necessarily the cause. This upset Jezebel, especially since she didn't like him being angry at himself like that.

Jezebel was quickly pulled out of her thoughts, when one of the guards flew by her; she saw that the rest of them were beginning to attack Sombra John, for vengeance of their fallen brethren. Sombra easily evaded their attacks, and countered them. Jezebel looked around, finding a hefty book. She thought this was perfect for what she had in mind. Using her own magic, she lifted the book above Sombra John's head. She dropped it on him, just before he was able to sense it above him.

"Ha, see! Books do make better weapons than swords!" Jezebel excitedly shouted; she proudly stood tall.

The guards roughly picked up the well-built stallion causing Jezebel to glare at them, "Can you be careful with him? He may be Sombra, but he is using my... partner's body."

The guards nodded at her request, actually taking it on board. They attempt to pull Sombra John toward the dungeons. In case he was to wake, they put on a horn lock so he would be incapable of using his magic. Jezebel stood a few feet from the cell he was placed in, along with Batstallion and Princess Twilight Sparkle. They exchanged ideas on how to get John back and defeat Sombra.

"How did you last defeat this villain?" Batstallion stood up toward the princess of friendship.

"Well, it involved the Crystal Empire using the Crystal Heart. They use the love they feel for their kingdom and their princess, putting it all into the heart. The heart is what keeps the Crystal Empire and its citizens safe." Twilight held a hoof to her chin in thought, "It's like a forcefield of protection."

"Could we not use that fact?" Jezebel had to look slightly up at the Princess pony before her.

"The fact that it is a protection method?"

"No, the fact that it uses... umm... love?" Jezebel shuffled from one hoof to the other; she blushed brightly, "We could use that to help bring John back?"

Over in the cells, Sombra John had regained consciousness. He grinned tiredly to himself as he watched and listened to the 2 mares and Batstallion talk. He chuckled, stepping more toward the bars.

"Darling, if you really wanted to... get involved with me, you merely need ask." Sombra John eyed the much smaller mare.

Jezebel just ignored him as best as she could; she continued with trying to explain her idea of how to save John and defeat Sombra. This may have been quickly done, had Sombra John not continuously made comments toward Jezebel. Something that indeed did make her blush furiously.

"Ignore him, focus on the plan." Batstallion stepped to being in front of her, stopping her gaze from being on Sombra John.

"Yes, that may be for the best." Twilight gave a kind smile as she placed a gentle hoof on Jezebel's shoulder, "He may get into your head, if he is able to continue."

She put a hoof to her chin, before trotting toward the guard standing beside the cell. She was thinking about how to approach her plan. She nodded to the guard to open the gate, so she could enter. He allowed her to enter, all the while Twilight and Batstallion watching her. Sombra John smirked as he stepped back to allow the mare to enter.

Sombra John once again chuckled, as stepped toward her, "Come back for more, sweet 'eart?"

Not letting his comments stop her, Jezebel continued to step toward Sombra John; she took a deep breath, before looking him direct in the eyes, "John, I'm talking directly to you. I know you're stronger than Sombra. I know you can defeat him."

"Darling, please, like that pathetic stallion could be more powerful than me." Sombra grinned down at the unicorn before him.

"John, please. We... I need you to come back." She continued to keep eye contact; he took hold of his cheeks with her hooves, "You can't blame yourself for those earlier events. Those weren't your fault. You couldn't help them."

For a minute, only a minute, this seemed to work; as evident by the confusion on Sombra John's face, and the slight tinge of pain he felt. Her speech quickly fell away from him. He grinned once again down at her.

"Nice try, sweetie." He smirked, tracing a hoof over her cheek; she backed away only slightly.

Jezebel looked back at him, determination in her eyes to get her best friend back; she, once again stepped up to him, brushing Sombra's hoof away, "John, I know you're in there, and I'm pretty sure this is a poor attempt at getting you back. You probably won't remember this, but John, do you remember the time I was in... in a very deep depression, and you tried all you could to cheer me up? You even tried silly things? The way you did manage was by pranking Chas..."

She paused, seeing that her attempt was actually slowly working; she gave a small smile, "We were laughing our asses off, but Chas wasn't too happy about it. You remember that right?"

She looked hopefully at the stallion before her; it seemed her idea was working. Very slowly. Her hopeful look was destroyed, when he began chuckling once again.

"Darling, please." Sombra John grinned down at her with a raised eyebrow, "Like that would work on me."

"It almost did! Jezebel keep trying to bring him out!" Twilight exclaimed with excitement.

Sombra John narrowed his gaze at the princess mare; Jezebel, in this moment, thought to herself. She then lunged forward, connecting her lips with his. For a few minutes, they stayed connected. She parted, worriedly looking at him. Once again, her hopeful look was drained away.

Sombra John grinned at her, "And just what was that supposed to do? Maybe you should have tried a bit harder, Jezebel, I don't think that one worked."

He paused, looking baffled; his brows furrowed. This only took a few seconds, before he began howling in pain. He had to lean against the wall due to the agony he felt. For a couple of minutes, it seemed John had come back.

"Belle.... C'mere... I think that kissed work... Maybe.... Maybe... try... Try something... similar." He stumbled toward Jezebel, wrapping his hooves around her; he hugged her tightly, trying to get passed the pain.

From over her shoulder, Jezebel could hear growling; Sombra had come back, "No... Stop!"

This only lasted a few seconds, as John had come back - still apparently in pain; he hugged her just that bit tighter, "Belle... it's... it's working."

"John, c'mon you can do it. Boot that bastard out." Jezebel kept hold of him, feeling his body shake.

The affection Jezebel was giving to John worked, as he managed to kick Sombra out of his body, taking on his usual white fur/ blond hair unicorn look. He still felt very weak, so Jezebel kept hold of him, though shifted so they were able to walk out of the cell. She helped him out. After a few moments, John recovered, mostly after giving a couple of minutes to breath.

He looked to the dark, Bat-clad stallion and the lilac alicorn mare; he gave a worried look, "How do you suppose we get rid of the nuisance for good?"

"I... don't know... We thought he was defeated, the last time we went up against him. We honestly thought that would work." Twilight mirrored that worried look.

Meanwhile, Sombra watched from the shadows. He was very weak, and watched with a feeling of vengeance. He gave a low growl, before disappearing completely.     


	44. Sudden Movements

She wondered what could have been taking John so long with their snacks; she happily listened to CB chat away, but Jezebel could practically hear her stomach rumbling from the hunger. She nodded with a small smile on her face, adding a reply every now and then. She would usually be more interested, but she hadn't eaten much that day, especially since she and John had been rushing around the previous night and that morning.

"So," CB smiled at Jezebel, "What's the sitch, with you and John?"

"W-what?" Jezebel almost choked on her drink; she was suddenly glad he wasn't in the room.

"C'mon, I know there's something there... Tell me... What's going on between you two?" CB grinned, playfully nudging her friend.

The lodge was rather bright the morning that CB was visiting, full of excitement. It seemed as if the sun was shining through, though there were no windows on the level of the large mill house the 3 of them stayed on. The glass coffee table that sat in front of CB and Jezebel had a few cracks in the tabletop, having been put there whenever Jez had paid a visit or throughout the years of abuse from the amount of glasses John would slam down in one night, after a particularly hard day.

CB immediately leapt from the couch they lounged on, when she saw John walk in with their snacks - evidently she was hungry too. This sudden movement - since she flailed her hands about -, however, made Jezebel flinch and she ended up taking up a defensive position. CB had noticed this out of the corner of her eyes, apologising without hesitation. John also noticed, causing him to frown. The two of them approached her, sitting either side of her on the couch.

"You know, Jezzy; I have noticed that you flinch a bit at quick movements, what's that about?" CB asked, taking a bite of the cheesy dorito chip she held, while still looking over at Jezebel with curiosity.

"Umm, well, it's..." She rubbed the back of her neck; she suddenly didn't feel hungry at all, "I think it... it comes from my aunt... umm, hitting me...."

Though her voice went rather mouse-like, her two friends were able to still hear her; CB's expression took to that of concern and worry. John's character reflected CB's worry, as he pulled Jezebel into a hug. He knew of how she hated conversing about her aunt, or any part of her past. She just kept quiet for the remainder of the next 5 minutes, quietly munching on the snacks in front of her.

Still hugging Jezebel, he glanced over at CB, "I've seen her do this before, and it kinda worries me..."

"Luv," He pulled her out of the hug, holding her at arm's length, "You know you're safe right? I won't let anything like that happen to you again, you know you don't have to a worry about it now?"

Slowly nodding, Jezebel kept her face buried in his chest; not wanting to look at her friends. She was about to answer, that she wasn't sure she was, when Angel walked in. A small shiba Inu bounded behind her, looking eager to get into the lodge. She, along with the dog, trotted down the stairs and approached the three others. She flopped herself down in the armchair, doubtlessly tired from her walk with Cairo.

"You alright Jezzy?" Angel asked, gazing over at Jezebel huddled in on John; she got a quick nod.

"When did you get a doggy?" CB giggled, getting a tongue bath from Cairo, who then jumped onto Jezebel - seeing that she wasn't too happy.

Having the dog attempting to cheer her up, made Jezebel giggle; she now sat up, trying to get the dog to calm down, "Yeah, we've had him for almost a month."

"Aw, I wish I had known earlier; he's such a cutie." CB gave the small dog a belly scratch as he rolled onto his back, "What's his name?"

"Cairo," John stepped in; he playfully nudged Jezebel, "Someone decided it would be a good idea to adopt a dog, while I was away."

"Hey, you're not complaining now." Jezebel smirked at him, before sticking out her tongue.

"How did you get the idea to get him?" CB smiled at Jezebel.

"Angel actually suggested it, basically." She smiled back; her brows furrowed, and she looked around - she seemed to have felt something not visible.

"How did it come up?" CB asked, titling her head with interest; she still stroked the dog laid across her and Jezebel.

Seeing that Jezebel seemed distracted by something behind her, Angel decided to explain, "Well, I was visiting Jezebel for a catch up, mostly cause she needed someone to talk with, while John was away, and we were discussing my job at the animal shelter."

"You work at an animal shelter?" CB asked with a small smile, still cuddling the small dog before her.

"Yeah, who do you think gave Belle the idea to get a dog?" John smirked, leaning over the back of the couch - having stood up to get some more drinks -; CB giggled, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Angel smirked, "Though, you would have fallen in love with him as quickly as I did, if you had seen him. I really wanted to keep him for myself."

"Why didn't you?" CB asked, tilting her head, while looking up at Angel.

Angel glanced down in sadness, "My Bipolar... It can get very... serious at times, especially if I have a manic episode. I was... am.. scared of hurting him by accident, when I have one."

She quickly brightened, "Though, it only took seconds before Jezebel suggested to me that she would adopt him, and telling me that I could see him whenever I wanted. She said I could even dog sit him when she and John went away, which pretty much explains today. I was honestly surprised, to say the least, that someone would do that for me, but I should've known Jezzy would have."

"Hmm, and you couldn't have said about me?" John raised an eyebrow, folding his arms, "About what I'd think on the situation?"

"Actually, John," Angel grinned, "I did. I actually asked Jezzy if you would have something to say, and that I imagined you wouldn't be too thrilled about just coming home to a dog."

 

"Yeah, and what'd she say back?" John grinned, before he glanced down at Jezebel - who still seemed to be distracted -; he nudged her, "Ey, you. What did you say to Angel about me not being happy about a new dog?"

"W-what?" Jezebel shook herself back to reality, before replying with, "Oh, I said 'He better be.' and that you already knew I wanted one. Angel replied with it possibly being a 'bit of a surprise', but I told her it would be a good one." 

 

John chuckled at the innocent grin that she gave him; he nodded, "Uh-huh. Then what happened? I don't suppose Miss Angel tried to stop you, did she?"

"In fact, I did. I told her of how a dog is a huge responsibility, even a small one like Cairo." Angel stuck out her tongue, smirking as she did. 

"Yeah, and I still told her to introduce me to him," Jezebel giggled, "I even gave her those eyes I give you."

"You mean the ones that you give me when you want something?" John raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yup." She grinned back at him, tilting her back against the couch to look at him.

Angel grinned, "I still can't believe you fall for that look, John." 

"Yeah, neither can I." John gave a half smile, looking away.

"Yup, every time." Jezebel continued to grin up at him; smugly smiling, "Eventually, I got Angel to cave in too, and soon after a little talk with her boss, I was able to meet this cutie."

Cairo gave a little yap as she stroked behind his ear, showing he was listening to the conversation. 

"What does the name Cairo even mean?" CB asked with an inquisitive expression.

"It's Egyptian, means 'The Victorious'." Angel proudly beamed. 

"Meaning he's our little pharaoh." Jezebel snuggled the pup in her arms.

"Did he come with the name, or did you pick it?"

 

"He came with it, but we kept it 'cause we thought it suited him." Jezebel grinned, looking over at Angel, who gave a small nod, "Eventually, we did get the papers signed, after a bit of giving attention to him."

"And me still trying to find out if John would really be fine with it." Angel poked her friend, playfully, in her arm. 

Jezebel frowned slightly, "Again, I can do stuff without John's permission, ya know?" 

"But, again, it is his house."

"It's my house too." 

John stepped in, "I was living here first, making it mine." 

"Actually, he took it off a mate of his. So, no you wasn't." Jezebel pouted, before sticking out her tongue at John. 

"Yeah, but he still lived there before you. Didn't he?" Angel grinned, knowing she was right. 

"So, what happened when John did get home"? CB excitedly stepped in, wanting to know the rest of the story; Cairo gave a bark and tail wag in response to show he did too.

"Well, it had been almost 2 weeks since I adopted him, and everything had been sorted - apart from the home visit was coming up. I was reading on the couch with him snuggled up to me - like usual, when he must've heard the keys entering the lock, cause something alerted him."

"That must've been John, right?" CB asked

"Yeah." Jezebel giggled, "Cai immediately bounded for the door, and actually waited to pounce on him." 

"Did you try to call him back, so I wouldn't have been attacked?" John asked, leaning over Jezebel again.

"I did, in fact, I even tried whistling." She proudly stated.

"You? You tried whistling?" He laughed, "Luv, no offence, but you can't whistle to save your life."

"Shut it, you." She elbowed him, before turning back to CB, "Anyway, I did try calling Cairo back, but he stayed put. He pounced John, a small raging ball of fluff flying up at him, as soon as he entered."

"Yeah, I was a little unprepared to say the least. Due to being unprepared, I ended up falling backwards, especially since Cairo was between headbutting my legs and trying to jump up at me - only just reaching me crotch area, further adding to why I was anxious to whatever was attempting to herd me out of my own home," John frowned, looking down at the dog - who just looked up at him, his tongue lolled out to the side as he did; Cairo barked, giving a small wag of his tail due to being acknowledged. 

Jezebel giggled, "I called him again, and he did actually trot over to me that time, having done his 'protecting' job."

"Yeah and protect you from what exactly?" John half smiled at her.

"The scary Constantine monster?" She grinned up at him

"Carry on, I really wanna know what happened?!" CB eagerly urged them on.

"Yeah, well once getting back onto my feet, I asked what the meaning of this was, and to which I got a sarcastic remark of him being a dog." 

"Hey, if you had asked the right question first, you would have got the answer you wanted." Jezebel giggled, "I actually told him I got him because I had been under the weather around then, and needed a bit of cheering up - which he knew about." 

"Yeah, again, I didn't think it meant getting a dog," John raised an eyebrow at her, folding his arms, "Though, I can see why you wanted him, now."

"I thought cheering her up was your job, John?" CB glanced over to him.

"Yeah, so did I..." John frowned, looking off to the side, before looking back at Jezebel, "She would go give the reply that he was small and didn't take up much room because he's small." 

"Yeah, and you didn't need to reply with me being small as well." Jezebel pouted, folding her arms; only for Cairo to nudge them.

"But, you are?" John grinned.

"Not." Jezebel stopped him there, "I told him that we have to keep him cause he's already settled and grown attached to him... Besides the fact that I had already signed the papers." 

"You get attached to all animals easily." John half smirked

"I can't help it if most humans are annoying and frustrating." 

"Ditto to that," John grinned, before half frowning, "I had to pause, before asking her, 'Did you say you've already signed the papers?' And she innocently looked away, giving away the answer, but she still replied with no."

"I had to give her a stern look, and tell her to tell the truth, that she was a shit liar." John grinned at her, "She still replied with that she wasn't, until she saw I was still giving the same look, but she tried to get passed the first question, until I told her I knew she knew what I actually meant." 

"Yeah I told him it was Angel's fault 'cause she told me about him.."

"Oh, gee, thanks Jezzy." Angel gave a short laugh 

"Yeah, but getting him was for your benefit too, mostly for mine, but I did tell him that you'd grown so attached to him. I couldn't bare to think how you'd feel if he was taken from you and you never got to see him again." Jezebel smiled, picking up Cairo; they both have matching puppy-dog eyes, "Just look at that face. How could you resist that?" 

John rolled his eyes, then gave her a sweet smile, "You've got a good heart, luv."

He pulled her into a hug, causing Cairo to jump at him and lick his cheek, "Ew." 

"See, I told you he likes you," Jezebel giggled as John wiped at the slobber on his face. He looked at the dog wagging his tail, giving a half smile.

John frowned, still looking at the dog wagging its tail, while in Jezebel's arms, "Hmm... I guess he is better than a cat."

"Then what happened after you got him to say that? Which I'm guessing he did?" CB asked.

Jezebel blushed, "I... I, uh, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, before going into the kitchen." 

"Aw," Angel and CB giggled.

"It was part of the moment, okay." Jezebel cringed, slouching more on the couch, "3 weeks was too long without my favourite scouser, and I was happy he said yes to keeping Cairo."

"More like favourite person, right?" John grinned

"Close second." 

"Aw, I bet I am yer favourite." 

Jezebel got up, shaking her head in disbelief; she smiled, walking off. 

John laughed, "Ha, knew I was!" 

Trying to get the story moved on, she attempted to change the topic, "Angel also told me a bit of his backstory. Did you know Cai once belonged to a famous archeologist until the guy fell ill?" 

"Ooo, really? That is interesting!" CB exclaimed, "Has he dug up on any of the furniture trying to look for treasure yet?"

"Luckily, no." Jezebel smiled, sitting on the floor with Cairo, "I don't think he'll end up doing that. He's been fine." 

"Hmm..." John half smiled as he sat on the floor across from Jezebel; he kept one leg raised as he leant on it, "I had to ask if there was anything else she hadn't told me. Like if she'd adopted a rabbit, while I was away too." 

"I told him 'No' and that someone from the shelter was gonna do a house-call in a few days to see how he was settling - which we passed." Jezebel paused, smirking, "Besides if I did want a bunny, I wouldn't need to look far. I could just use that spell Zee taught me on you." 

John frowned, "Don't you dare." 

"Don't worry, I'm not going to.... Yet." 

"No. There's not going to be a 'yet'... I'd rather not be one again." 

"But you look so cute as one." Angel stepped in; both she and CB were laughing. 

"Even so, I didn't like being one." John frowned at them, "And don't encourage her!" 

"Funny. I thought you'd make a comment about you already being cute... or something like that." 

"No need to. We both know I am." He grinned as he saw her roll her eyes and smirk. 

Cairo trotted up to him. The small dog looked up at John, before laying on his back and wriggling for belly rubs. John gave a light laugh as he crouched beside Cairo, to grant the dog's wish, "Huh, you are quite cute, aren't ya?"

Cairo's tongue was lolling out, and left hind leg kicked in the air; Jezebel giggled, "That's him telling you he already knows that." 

"Hmm," John got up onto the couch, calling Cairo to come up with him; Cairo followed him up, settling on his knee.

"Did I tell you of when I walked in to see those two sleeping together?" Jezebel grinned, getting head shakes from her two friends, "I walked in after getting some snacks, and see that they're both asleep. John with his legs outstretched, and Cai on his chest. I even got a picture."

"You didn't?" John looked at her.

"I did." She grinned at him, getting her phone out to show CB and Angel, "Look." 

"Aw, luv, do you have to show everyone?" He cringed.

"Yup," She giggled; she suddenly frowned, looking away.

John prepared himself for Jez to make an appearance, as this was a normal hint that she would take over Jezebel - that Jezebel would become more distracted than usual. What was really happening, she was being bothered by a not-so-friendly ghost. One all too familiar to her. The ghost in question was her recently passed Great Aunt Agatha. She was attempting to get on Jezebel's bad side, continuously causing misery for her.

"Hey, umm, John, you remember at the Christmas party, where Richard told us of Aunt Aggie's passing?" She continued to look away; she moved to sitting next to him.

"Bit of a grim topic from what we were just talking about, but sure, I do. I reckon you must've looked happier than I've ever seen ya." He raised an eyebrow, "Something wrong, luv?"

"Well, not entirely, but I've been having nightmares... And they've been really bothering me." She rubbed her forearm.

"Is that why you seem so distracted?" CB asked, receiving a quick head nod in response.

"How long has this been going on?" John turned his attention back to Jezebel, who didn't answer for a short while, "Belle, tell me?"

"Almost since Richy told me." She gave a quick glance at John, before looking back into her lap.

"That long, and you haven't told me?" He turned her to face him, "Belle, if you had, we could have sorted this out by now."

Even directly facing him, John could see that Jezebel was still very distracted. He let her go, and she put her head down again. Aunt Agatha's ghost was up in Jezebel's face at this moment; this was especially why she was attempting to keep her head down, though the ghost tried hard to stop her. She gave a flinch, when Agatha went to strike at her. John frowned, noticing this, and moved closer to her.

Out of the corner of his eye, John swore to himself that he saw something; he shifted himself closer to Jezebel, protectively putting an arm around the back of the couch, behind her. He frowned, something of which Angel noticed.

"John? You okay?" Angel asked, tilting her head curiously. 

"Hmm, yeah." He slowly looked back at Angel; he gave a small smile to her, "Thought I saw something."

Jezebel glanced up, only slightly, but she looked worried at him. She quickly lowered her gaze due to her great aunt slapping her in the face, something she didn't feel, but did spook her into flinching again. This caused John to look back at her.

"Luv, are you sure you're alright?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah..." She went silent, once again; she kept her head lowered.

Agatha got right up into Jezebel's face; she narrowed her eyes, smiling, "You know, my death was pretty much your fault. If you hadn't have been a little slut and went off with a man like that, I would have still been alive. You killed me, like you did to your mother and father, even your little brother."

She smiled further, when Jezebel sniffled. What neither noticed was that, upon calling Jezebel a 'slut', John looked up and actually saw her. He frowned, listening to what the woman had to say. When he saw that Agatha was grinning due to Jezebel sniffling, he stepped in.

"Oi, that's not called for." He stepped in front of Agatha, who seemed rather shocked he could see her, "Piss off, 'fore I make you piss off."

"Or what?" She looked at him, "You are probably as useless as she is... Which isn't a lot. That slut, she needs to learn that she is responsible for what happened to her family, and myself."

"First off, she was nowhere near you when you died. She wasn't in control of her body when that damn murder happened.. That was not her fault. Second, I want you to leave her alone, leave this place. Get lost, go. Otherwise, I send you to Hell, where you bloody well belong. You are causing her to have a living Hell." John lit a cigarette; he kept glancing at her.

"That's actually what I mean by it being her fault: she wasn't there for me." Agatha frowned, "Who are you to tell me what to do? You, young man, should have better respect for your elderly, and you should leave her while you still can. Otherwise you may end up dead too.."

She was grinning at him, before she went back to harassing Jezebel; John frowned, "Very well."

He went into his desk drawers and got out a pouch of various gemstones. He set out a circle of these gemstones (including: black tourmaline, bloodstone, agate and bornite). Once completing the circle, he told the 3 girls to get in the circle with Cairo. They immediately obey, Angel having to keep hold of Cairo to stop him from exiting the circle and going into protection mode for John.

As he and Jezebel had done so through an exercise that they did together, he sat on the floor outside the circle - getting confused expressions from CB and Angel -, and he closed his eyes. His brows took on a furrowed look, often done when he was trying to concentrate. He took a moment to visualise a white light being shone on him from Heaven, this being his positive energy, and then exhaling with a black/ grey smoke - this being his negative energy. He repeated this 3 times, before asking of Aunt Agatha to leave again, "I ask again, Agatha Connelly. Leave. Now."

She cackled at him; once he felt she was still there, he sighed and got up. He strode over to the cupboards where he often kept ingredients and equipment he might have needed. He took out a small bowl that was filled with sage. He grabbed a bit in his hand, putting the bowl back in the cupboards. He then grabbed the silver ashtray within there as well, holding the sage over it. He then began to walk clockwise around the room.

Jezebel sat watching; she had took on a worried expression as she kept her gaze on him. She secretly hoped something or someone would come along. Manny - who Jezebel had only heard of through John - made himself known to only her. He explained, "Jezebel Connelly, I am here to help relieve you of your ghostly visitor, but you must keep quiet to me being here."

She whispers, "You can get rid of my aunt?"

Nodding, Manny responded with, "Yes, I can do that."

"Can you look out for her though, when you take her?" 

"Even after all she has done to you?" He gave a curious expression to her, to which she nodded, "You have a good heart, dear Jezebel."

Manny made for an exit taking Agatha with him; Jezebel saw that her friends were confused at the sudden disappearance of Jezebel's aunt. She had to hold back a giggle, as she saw John was looking at the sage - that was now ashes - in his hands, looking rather surprised.

"Huh, it actually worked. It bloody worked." He scratched the back of his head, "I can't believe it."

Once everything was sorted, Jezebel decided to take a quick nap on the couch - Cairo laying next to her; Angel and CB had gone home. John had to go somewhere. So, she took this as the opportunity to do so. Manny reappeared to Jezebel while she was sleeping.

He was about to ask something of her, but this caused her to say, as she went to walk away ( causing him to give an annoyed look behind her back), "Sorry, but my partner - John - told me I shouldn't trust angels... I shouldn't have really called on you, sorry."

Manny gave a rather small smile, trying to seem as friendly as he could to gain Jezebel's trust; he gave a quick nod, before replying, "Very well, Miss Jezebel. But, if you are ever in need, do call on me. You never know when you will be in need of a guardian angel."


	45. How Dusk Met Jezebel

Sat in the living room, Aaron was attempting to help his younger sister - Aloha - with practicing her ukulele, though unfortunately he was struggling himself at getting the hang of it. Not only because of the small guitar slightly confusing him, but also since he could feel a slight tension between his parents in the same room as them. They were sat across from them, in the dining room - a fair distance away.

His adoptive father (Rick) had just gotten off the phone, ecstatic that he and his wife got a job opportunity - considering they worked together in show business, him being the tap/ jazz dancer, while she provided the special effects -; Stephanie (Aaron's adoptive mum), on the other hand, felt quite concerned over who would care for the kids - Aaron and Aloha - as taking the job would mean traveling. They argued about it for a couple of minutes before they went silent.

Stephanie spoke up, "There's also the fact that we said we would spend time with them, yet here we are planning to go away... Again."

"Dear, it's not exactly our choice on where the job will be. Is it?" Rick spoke back; this earned a glare from his wife.

"Rick, it doesn't mean we have to accept the job offer, doesn't mean we have to go."

"Well, how are we meant to care for the kids if we don't have money to provide them with what they need?"

"Oh I don't know... With love and affection? Not leaving them with every Tom, Dick and Harry?"

It went back and forth like this for another 5 minutes. Aaron looked back at his sister, seeing she had somehow mastered her instrument.

He proudly smiled, "Hey, look at that; you've already got the hang of it!"

"I know right!" Aloha grinned; her smile suddenly dropped, "But, I don't think I'm good..."

"Nonsense!" He hugged her - causing her to tense at the physical contact -; he sheepishly grinned, "Sorry... Anyway, it sounds to me like you're already so good, and you're doing a lot better than I could."

His little wink caused her to giggle; she gave a quick hug back, "You silly Beetle."

Aaron glanced back at his parents - still in their cold-shoulder retreat with each other. He paused in thought, before turning back to his sister, who was curiously looking up at him.

"Are mummy and daddy fighting?" She asked, fear in her eyes, "They aren't falling out of love, are they?"

Aaron shook his head, "No, of course they're not. Just a disagreement... But, I think I know a way to help settle it."

He cleared his throat, before calling, "Hey, mum; dad, I think I have an idea to help."

The two adults turned to face the 15 year old - curiosity on their faces; they indicated for him to continue, giving him a couple of nods. He strolled over to them, so they could hear him better.

"Well, I was thinking maybe Jezebel would be able to look after us for a couple of days - she has a massive house, she loves it when we visit, and we love visiting her. She always plans fun things for us to do. You guys trust her as well."

"Hmm..." Stephanie began, a small smile at the corner of her lips; she turned to her husband, "He is right; we love Jezebel like she is our own. It would make sense."

"True." Rick stepped in, nodding and smiling.

"John also loves bonding with us too!" Aloha added excitedly as she joined her brother and parents, "And we'll get to see Zed!"

At the mention of his name, Stephanie's smile dropped. It faded so quickly, her family would have thought they imagined it.

"That..." She looked toward her daughter and son, quickly rewording what she originally going to say, "...plonker causes enough havoc without putting others in danger.. I don't want him near them."

"Muummm" Aloha and Aaron whined in sync; they gave pleading eyes to their mother, "He's not bad once you get to know him."

"Absolutely not, his attitude stinks as much as his coat stinks of cigarettes." Steph folded her arms.

"Pleaseee..." The two adolescents begged, giving over exaggerated, teethy smiles, while clasping their hands together; unfortunate for Stephanie, her husband took their side as well.

"Honey, maybe they should go there. I mean, I'm sure she would take care and look out for these two." Rick brought his wife into a hug, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, "It'd only be for a couple of nights, and we do trust her more than most people we sometimes have look after the kids. A lot more."

She gave a defeated sigh, "Fine. Rick go give her a call, Aaron you go help your sister pack for the 3 nights you'll be there."

The 3 of them were off like rockets, leaving Stephanie to shake her head.

An hour or so later, Aloha was still packing - Aaron having finished his and making sure she had the essentials -; he came into see she was trying to pack all her comfort toys, and everything else. He folded his arms, while stood in the doorway. She hadn't even noticed him standing there.

"You know, we're not going to live there... We're only going for a couple of nights."

She paused for a few seconds, "I know, but I want to make sure there's plenty for us to do. Plus, I wanna do my special tea parties with John - I always make sure he looks amazing for them."

Aaron glanced down to see she was holding up a brush and a tray of make up; he raised an eyebrow, "Make up?"

"Yeah! I always put his hair in pigtails and he lets me put a bit of makeup on him." She brightly gleamed.

The mental image of John with these short pigtails stuck all over his head, and dramatically done makeup scrawled all over his face, made Aaron want to burst out laughing; he looked back down at his sister, "Why don't you ask anyone else to join in?"

"John says he wants it to just be us." She gave a proud type of smile, almost sticking out her chest.

"Uh-huh." He smirked; they then heard their parents call them to get going, causing him to turn to his sister, "You got everything, squirt?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded, as she attempted to close her suitcase, "I think so."

"Here." Aaron closed the suitcase with ease, and then headed toward the stairs - sister in tow.

Another hour passed, they arrived at the lodge where Jezebel lived. Stephanie and Rick helped their children to take their luggage to the door. Steph fussed a bit with Aaron's hair, before Rick rolled his eyes and knocked on the door. The first to answer it was Chas.

Aloha stared up at the tall, big man in front of her; she looked at him in awe, "Wow! You're like a bear!"

"More like teddy bear." Jezebel laughed from behind Chas, who gave her an unimpressed expression; she greeted them all with hugs, finishing with Aaron so he could have the longest, "It's nice to see you all again."

"I like that," Aloha shyly responded, holding Jezebel's shirt sleeve as she led them in; she gave a small, but bright smile as she looked behind at Chas, "Can I call you that?"

Chas chuckled, nodding in response, "I guess it wouldn't hurt, so sure."

"Yay!" Aloha cheered.

"So, where's John?" Rick asked, his arm around Stephanie's waist; upon feeling her tense and seeing her jaw clench, he rubbed her back, "I thought he'd be here to help."

"Well, he's away on urgent business; an old friend of his needed him." She gave a weak smile.

"Somethin' wrong, Jezzy?" Aaron asked, concerned.

"Uh, yeah." She nodded, giving him a smile - a sincere one -; she gave a light giggle, "Just concerned over him, I guess."

"I don't know why you stick around him," Stephanie began, folding her arms.

"Don't start, Steph." Rick began.

"No, she needs to hear that man is a bad influence. He doesn't look out for his friends. I've heard how many have died because of him." She turned back to Jezebel, from looking at her husband, "I hope you see that before it's too late, Jezebel. I don't want you having that same fate. He doesn't seem like the type of guy that wouldn't hesitate to leave and save his own ass."

"Stephanie." Rick started.

"No, it's alright Rick." Jezebel held a hand out to him; she smiled, "Steph, I stay with him because I want to, because he saved me on more than one occasion. Without him, I don't think I would have met Aaron, and he'd be stuck at that circus. Or been able to get this far myself. Steph, I appreciate your concern, but please have faith that I can look out for myself. Besides the fact, John wouldn't let anything happen to me."

"Hey Jezzy," Aaron stepped in, "Can you show Allie and me our rooms?"

"Uh, sure," Jezebel paused, before smiling at him, "C'mon. You two can come too if you want?"

Jezebel led the four of them toward two rooms that stood across from one another on the upper level of the lodge. Aloha was given the room on the left, while Aaron was given the one on the right. They eagerly threw their bags in their room, since they wanted to spend more time with Jezebel and the others. Aloha looked around, as Aaron and their parents were talking with Jezebel and Chas. She was looking for Zed, considering she bonded more with her.

After not being able to find her, Aloha approached Chas and tugged on his sleeve, "Bear, where's Zed? I can't find her."

"Uh, she's out visiting a family member at the moment, kiddo. She'll be back in a few though." Chas gave her a sweet smile as she picked up her.

Once Aaron's parents had said their goodbyes and went on their way, the others settled down to relax for a while. A few hours passed, a knock came at the door; Jezebel strolled to answer it, a smile growing on her face at who stood before her.

"Dusk!" Jezebel grinned, allowing her smaller friend into the lodge, "Come in."

"Hey, Jezzy." Dusk paused when she saw Aloha and Aaron, "Oh, I didn't realise you had guests; I can come back another time, if you're busy."

"Oh, don't be silly; the kids don't mind you being here. Do ya?" She looked to Aaron and Aloha, who excitedly nodded, "You go sit with Chas and Aloha; Aaron, how about you and I go make some snacks?

"Sure!" Aaron sprang up, as Dusk sat down.

During the preparation of making the snacks, the two of them were silent; Jezebel was thinking on things, until she spoke up.

"You know, Aaron; I was thinking. It must've been hard for you... when we first met... at that god-forsaken circus... and learning to trust others again..." She lowered her gaze; she looked up, when he looked at her, "But, I was also thinking about how far you've come since then. About how much you've changed and how different you are today, and how proud we all are of you. Especially me and John."

"I'm glad to hear that, Jezzy," Aaron simply smiled, "I have noticed a difference in me too, and I didn't think I'd be alive today or have ever escaped that place. I'm glad you found me."

He stopped what he was doing, and immediately hugged her - surprising her at first -, "Thank you."

"Heh, it's not a problem. I'm glad I found you too." Surprised at first, Jezebel smiled and hugged him back.

The two of them headed back into the living area - a tray of snacks in hands - and placed the tray on the coffee table. They all dug in straight away, snatching up snacks and chowing down. Aaron looked up - with his hand full of cheese puffs and onion rings -; he asked, "Hey, Jezzy; how did you and Dusk meet, and become friends?"

Aloha nodded, and asked with a full mouth of cheese puffs, "Yeah, you both seem so different to each other."

Dusk and Jezebel looked between each other, rethinking of how they actually became friends. Each of them paused, waiting for the other to start on the story. When neither of them did, Dusk gave a thoughtful 'hmm', before continuing.

"I guess that we should start with where we met, which would be in Blackpool, England." Dusk began.

"The seaside resort." Jezebel added in.

"Yeah, well, I was there showing Edward around my hometown as an excuse to get away from Gotham for a while."

"And I was there, with John, 'cause we were helping a friend of Jim's out with a case." Jezebel smiled.

"What was the case for?" Aloha clutched her plush mouse closer to her, as she gave the girls an interested smile, "Something scary?"

"Uh, it wasn't too bad for me and John... If I remember right, the case... or cases revolved around different urban legends."

"Yeah, that's the reason why to how I met her and John. She must've have been following up on a lead...."

"I was."

"When she saw me... and I guess, because of my small stature..." Dusk paused, seeing confusion on Aloha's face, "Height, she must've thought I was a child and in trouble since I was stood alone in an alleyway."

"Yeah, why were you standing there by yourself?" Jezebel raised an eyebrow at Dusk.

"Umm, I think it was because Edward must've been trying to prove his intelligence again."

Jezebel rolled her eyes, with a small smile, "Really, that surprises me about as much as John's massive ego."

"Not very much then?" Aloha innocently grinned at her, lowering the plush toy away from her face.

"Yup, you got that right, sweetie."

"Well, he does have a massive ego." Chas added with a shrug of his shoulders, giving a small smirk.

"Yeah, so Jezebel picked me up - considering me being small and light -, so provided no problem for Jezebel to carry over her shoulder; as far as I could tell."

"Nope.... Maybe a little, 'cause I'm not used to carrying anything heavier than a small box." She giggled.

"And she took me to the police station, where John was." Dusk giggled in response, "It must've took 5 minutes for me to prove my actual age to them, because they didn't believe I was the same age as Jezzy."

"Hey, can you blame us?" Jezebel shrugged her shoulders, with a small laugh.

"No, I guess not." Dusk smiled, "Upon finding out my true age, they had to check over a pin-board of where the crimes were, and how they were done. While they were doing this, I noticed the locations provided a bit of a riddle - living with The Riddler himself comes with advantages for things like this -. I managed to solve it quickly, and pointed out to them the pieces to the puzzle they were trying to solve."

"Yeah, that was when we discovered how intelligent Dusk actually was! She helped us by a huge amount, helping solve the case quicker. I got John to ask if she could help further on the case, which he didn't mind - he just wanted it to be over and done with to be honest -."

"You mean, after you took a few minutes of begging, that he asked." Dusk looked over at Jezebel with a huge grin; she giggled when Jezebel responded with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I guess I wanted to have it over and done with as well." Jezebel smirked, "Anyway, while the rest of them were looking over at the pin-board, I noticed a shadow type creature in the corner of my eye. Note that before meeting Dusk or going back to the station, John and I had previously investigated the locations - finding a few clues that helped. The last place we checked was the house of where the so-called clown statue was sighted."

Dusk noticed that Jezebel shivered and gave a rather disgusted look, so she interrupted, "You okay to tell this part, Jezzy?"

"Uh... Yeah..." Jezebel rubbed the back of her neck, giving an anxious laugh, "I think so."

"Okay, if you're sure."

"I guess the thing must've followed us, 'cause next thing I knew it was next to me - kinda freaking me out to say the least. Scared me into squeaking out loud."

"And John asking if she was okay, getting all protective over her." Dusk grinned.

Jezebel blushed slightly at the look her friend was giving her; she cleared her throat and continued, "Anyway, I excused myself from the room, to get a drink or something to calm myself from the little heart attack that shit head gave me."

"Jezzy!" Chas covered Aloha's ears; the 10 year old gave a rather shocked look at the sudden space intrusion, "Language!"

"Sorry." She sheepishly smiled, looking at the two of them, before continuing once again, "Well, it followed me out of the room... causing me to get a bit paranoid for the rest of the case. Luckily, from its little stalking, I managed to get a bit of information... when we were alone somewhere. It told me that it was an ancient, very rare creature known as a darkling. They tend to take on a shadow like form, and are able to shape-shift, though their true forms are small, look rather like guinea pigs cross with pigs - their noses made me think of pigs. From what I've read, they're known to be mischievous and don't mind a bit of murder. The one I talked to, he seemed rather devious, so I can believe that, especially with the form he took..."

Jezebel paused for a long amount of time, noticeable to the others that she stared into space. Dusk cleared her throat to gather the attention of Jezebel and the others. She was the one to continue on with the story.

"So, anyway, I reckon while I was there in the consulting room, with John and the sheriff of the station, and when she came back, Jezebel, Edward must've panicked when he saw I wasn't anywhere nearby. He told me that he searched around the streets I could have possibly been, before eventually coming to the logical agreement with himself that he didn't know the place. So, I guess that's why he came to the police station, well the nearest one to him."

"Which, low and behold, was the one Dusky was at." Jezebel smiled, "We guess he must've been about to approach the main desk to ask if they'd seen her, when he heard her voice, and followed it."

"He stopped at the 2-way mirror, seeing me in a room with (at the time) two strangers. I was sat at the only table in the room, while John and Jezebel were stood up - the sheriff went out before this -. I guess I must've looked really worried to him - he probably thought it was to do with the fact that I didn't really know John and Jezebel at the time, but it was really because I was worried about people getting hurt on the case, and Jezebel looking very pale at the time."

"I was?"

"Yeah, like a ghost... so to speak." Dusk gave a sympathetic smile to her, "Well, he must've went into protective mode, and he burst into the room. I stood up, saying his name, while John was like 'the hell, mate!'"

Jezebel laughed at the impression she was doing of John, "That's a pretty good version of him."

"Ha, I know right." Dusk laughed in response, "I explained the situation to Edward, who made it clear he didn't like the looks of John."

"Who was the same in return."

Aaron stepped in, "So which of the 3 cases held the most precedence?"

Jezebel let out a light laugh as she saw the huge confusion on Aloha's face at her brother's big words; she smiled, "He means priority, Allie."

"I would say.... The one we referred to as the Russian Sleep Experiment. This being the other cases didn't exactly have anyone murdered... The case involving the students and their accommodation, that only had one death at the least (most of the students were only injured), while the sleep experiment had a few deaths at the time we were given the case... But, they all linked anyway."

"What was each case about?" Aloha titled her head in curiosity.

"Well, the one that caused least worry, for the cops, was involving a student babysitter that was caring for two small children that phoned their children due to a statue of a life sized clown creeping her out. The parents told her to get out with the kids cause they didn't have one of those. Luckily, she gets out with the kids to safety." Dusk began.

"When we interviewed the family, the father of the children explained how he and one of his kids are terrified of clowns - much like me -. He also explained of how the kids would tell him and his wife of how a clown would watch them sleep, and thinking the were just nightmares, the parents blew it off." Jezebel added, "The cops told us when they searched the house, they found there was no trace of the clown, save for evidence of weapons the family didn't own kept in a part of the attic the family didn't use. This, I guess, the cops took as a hint at much more sinister plot at hand."

"Lucky they got to them in time then." Chas shook his head; he paused and looked to Jezebel, "John told me how you had a follower for most of the rest of the case after investigating that house, what's that about?"

"Well, before I explained about the clown following me, I said he was a ghost or I thought he was... but, we soon found out that it was a darkling, this was what links the cases because it also took the form of what caused the murder of one of the students, and what took the form of one of the doctors in charge of the project."

"Wait, what project? John didn't tell me about an project. All he told me about was the clown thing and the teenagers with the murderer." Chas looked between Dusk and Jezebel; his bristly eyebrows fitted together in confusion.

Jezebel gave an almost sympathetic smile, "Umm, well, it wasn't the nicest case, I'll tell you, so I wouldn't blame John if he just wanted to forget and never mention that place again. But, if you really wanna know, it was a kinda behind the scenes project the doctors at a nursing home called the Abbeydale Care Home. I think it's shut down now, but when it was open, some of the residents without family or friends were taken away - I think there was about 5 -. They were kept down in the very large basement, for about 15 days almost."

"We know, from the information we were given, that the gas that was put into the chamber they were kept in calmed the residents used. We also know that by day 5, they started to encounter paranoia and stress. The researchers, we found out, overheard bemoaning circumstances, and that the residents stopped conversing with one another, though they would whisper into the mics about each other." Dusk added, "A couple of days later, they were screaming their heads off and running around the chamber."

"When we looked at the case notes, we read that the quieter subjects tore up books." Jezebel had to grit her teeth when mentioning about the damage of books, before she could continue, "They also smeared poop over the pages.."

Dusk giggled slightly at Jezebel's expression; she continued on, "They also plastered feces over the mirrored windows, so the researchers and doctors could no longer see anything. From that day to day 10, the screaming stops and communication stops altogether."

"Then, from day 10 to day 12, no sounds at all came from the chamber. This led to the guards opening the chamber, and give them an offer of freedom. A voice inside the room told them, 'we no longer wish to be freed.' Then, there was no contact from then on." Jezebel extended to what Dusk had said, "That caused one of the managers to terminate the experiment. So, on day 13, the gas is flushed out of the chamber and is replaced with fresh air."

"It was said that screaming could be heard throughout the home, ones that sounded like they were trying for their lives. They begged for the gas to be put back on." Dusk shivered at the thought, "The doctors have these soldiers enter the chamber. What they discovered terrified even the soldiers that had entered the room."

Aloha interrupted, "What'd they find?"

"Wait and you'll find out, Allie." Aaron smiled, before turning to Dusk and Jezebel, waiting for them to continue.

"They found one of the residents dead, face down in bloody water. Chunks of flesh torn off (and some stuffed down the floor grate... " Jezebel smiled a little too eagerly.

Dusk stopped her, "Just a reminder that there is still a 10 year old in the room, so calm down with the details of the gore."

"Hey, it's alright; Aaron lets me watch scary movies sometimes, so I'm used to it." Aloha innocently grinned; Aaron joined her, only with a more guilty look.

Jezebel continued on, "They also found that all of the residents have severely mutilated themselves; they also self disemboweled themselves, along with ripped open abdomens - also self inflicted. It also looked as if some had eaten their own flesh, when we went and checked in the hospital - which was where they were when John and me got the case -. The hospital was where we discovered 4 had lived from this ordeal, and that they were terrified to sleep, or even leave the chamber. They were pleading for the gas still as we went around the ward."

"Jezebel told me, that these 4 were forced to be removed. They fought back. One of the soldiers ended up with a ruptured spleen and due to the large amount of blood he loses, he dies on sight of the experiment."

"After his body splayed around for about 4 minutes.." Jezebel added excitedly.

Dusk gave a confused, but worried look toward Jezebel, before adding on, "One of the subjects fought back so much against being anesthetized that he tore muscles and broke bones. He's eventually anesthetized, but his heart stops, causing him to die."

"The rest are taken into surgery with no sedation, and they felt no pain. They only laughed hysterically. This scared the doctors so much the patients were given a paralytic agent to be safe." Jezebel gave a small smirk at the thought of the hospital doctors being scared of elderly people, "After the surgery, they are restrained and taken to a medical facility. John and I asked why they self mutilated, and why they wanted the gas so badly. They responded with 'must remain awake', all the time. Everyone of them with the same answer."

"The doctors - from the nursing home - told them that there was the consideration of euthanizing the subjects to obliterate every trace. It was over ruled by the sub-head doctor of the home, who orders for the experiment to resume. They also had 3 researchers join in with the rest of the residents."

"While John and me were there, the head doctor shot the sub-head point blank, and proceeded to shoot the 1 of the 2 surviving. By the time he was aiming at the 2nd, the 3 researchers had scattered out of the chamber. As he aimed, he asked the last survivor, 'what are you? I must know.' Trust me when I say, he sounded desperate to know."

"What'd the person say to him?" Aloha was on the edge of her seat.

"Hold your horses." Jezebel giggled, "They grinned at him and replied with, 'Have you forgotten so easily? We are you. We are the madness that lurks within you all, begging to be free at every moment in your deepest animal mind. We are what you hide from in your beds every night. We are what you sedate into silence and paralysis when you go to the nocturnal haven where we cannot tread.', then the bastard shot the poor subject in the head - wasn't a pretty sight, but I'm pretty sure I heard him say that he was so nearly free."

"Wow." Aloha and Aaron smiled, "Talk about intense."

"What about that other case? The one with the students?" Aaron asked, "Where was that?"

"Well, that one they were investigating just as Edward and I came on the scene. The four of us (Edward, me, John and Jezebel) split into two teams: me with Jezebel, and Edward with John. This is how the dislike between the two fellas strengthened - due to them not agreeing on what to do. Jezebel and I, on the other hand, find common interests."

"We - unfortunately - returned to investigate the 'clown statue' at the house down the street from the station, while the lads investigated the hotel where the student murder had happened." Jezebel gave a grumpy pout, "They told us what happened afterwards - though a couple of details were a bit different to the others. But, I'm pretty sure that was when Edward stated his dislike for John, who in turn would reply with something like, 'The feeling's mutual, mate'."

"Ha, you do a pretty good John impression yourself, Jezzy." Aloha giggled.

"Thanks, I practice when he's pissing me off." She gave a rather proud grin; she advanced with the story, "I think the name of the hotel was Palm Beach hotel - again, I think it was shut down, then used as student accommodation, but shut down after these events. We were told that there was an area off limits, a specific room, and a group of kids dared each other to go into it - to stay a night or two. They went in pairs."

"Once the 2nd pair had done the dare and returned to their rooms, they realised it's late (not turning on the lights), they climbed into bed. In the morning, they found the 1st pair hacked to pieces with a bloody message on the wall reading "Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the lights?" There's no evidence of a physical killer." Dusk extended, "We didn't get much on this one, and neither did the lads, but we did find it was the darkling behind the deaths of the two kids."

"But, out of those horrible events, you both got two great friends." Aloha cheered.

"Heh, yeah, though I don't think Edward likes me." Jezebel joked.

"He likes you more than he likes John." Dusk giggled

"True."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Used 2 pieces done by Darkhuntress247 over on DeviantArt as inspiration; also used thoughtco.com to find information on the 3 creepypastas rewritten in this chapter ('The Russian Sleep Experiment', 'The Clown Statue' and 'Aren't You Glad You Didn't Turn On The Lights?')


	46. Constantine Vs Beetlejuice

The symptoms of a heart attack include: chest pain/ discomfort, joint pains - in arms, back, neck and legs -, stomach pains, shortness of breath, nausea, sweating and fatigue. Though in some cases, not everyone knows what's going on. Such was the case for Robert Green. He lived over 100 years ago, meaning the medical attention towards a heart attack and its symptoms wasn't as cracked up to be as it would be nowadays. He seated himself in his new house, one his family had built from scratch, beside a roaring fireplace. He was reading when it happened, one of his all time favourites - Shakespeare's Hamlet. The heart attack came all of a sudden, out of nowhere. It started with minor things: feeling ever so tired and then the shortness of breath. Later it was the pains - a dull one to begin with, and grew to be unbearable.

He didn't know it, but by the time the pains had stopped, he was dead. He got up from his seat, went to bed and slept it off -- or so he thought. His body was taken by his wife in the morning from the chair, and he still didn't realise. Over the years, he failed to notice how his family had disappeared, and how his house was beginning to decay. The old shutters - falling off their hinges. The white paint - cracked and peeling. The ivy had grown up almost every side of the house, covering it from ground to roof. It had that sense of eeriness that a lot of people got. Around 50 years after his death, the house began to go up for sale - after a small paint job and clean up -, a couple of owners took interest and lived in it for a short time, but they could never make it feel like home. So, it went back up for sale again - which was a repeated process for a long time.

During the next 50 years; he started to notice the presence of strangers in his home, and the absence of his family. He began to grow restless - so much, in fact, that he started moving small objects around. Over the coming months it got worse for the current residents. He would touch, or pinch their arms in order to freak them out. He would knock things off shelves, when he thought they were ignoring him or they were doing something wrong. The residents finally gave in, fearing for themselves, and they mentioned their worries to a friend. That friend in question mentioned of how two exorcists had helped her move some ghosts out of her home when she struggled to rid of her abusive husband even after death. The couple decided to give it a try, giving the exorcists a call; then hoping that they would come and rid them of their problem.

Jezebel looked down at her phone, reviewing the notes she made while John repeated the main parts of the case to her. She was giving him directions to the house, which wasn't that far from the lodge. She glanced from her phone to the roads and streets, before back at her phone. She paused, and looked to see that John had such a look of concentration on his face that she couldn't help but grin.

"You're grinning." John stated, his eyes still fixed on the road, "Why?"

"Nothing..." She continued to grin, "It's just... you know, when you concentrate, you do this, like, thing with your face..."

"What thing?" He raised an eyebrow, sending a glance her way.

"Like this thing... You kinda lean forward into the wheel, and your face kinda scrunches up...and then you kinda scowl... with a squint." She giggled, "It's kinda cute..."

He grumbled to himself, before tilting his head toward her, "I am not cute." He looked back at the road, pouting, "I am never cute."

"If ya say so," She laughed, " _Johnny_ ,"

John rolled his eyes, going back to focusing on the road; he heaved a heavy sigh. This in turn just caused her to laugh more. Her giggling caused his lips to form a small smirk; he shook his head.

"How long till we get there?" He just asked

"Umm," Jezebel looked to her phone, "Shouldn't be long now."

"What do ya reckon, easy job?"

"Possibly."

Carla and Peter Simms - a newly wedded couple that had not long since moved into their new 4 storey-home, only to find that they were being haunted by one of the ex-tenants.They had hoped this would be their clean slate, away from all the bad memories from their past and a fresh start with each other - their " _happily ever after_ " so to speak. They had called the suggested exorcists to help get the job done, and now waited for them to appear. They had been told via the male of the two exorcists (John) that they would an approximated 30 minute car ride away, and wouldn't take long to get there.

Every time a car drove past, they eagerly rose from their seats on the porch, only to lower themselves in seeing it wasn't coming to them. When John and Jezebel finally did arrive up the drive, they were greeted with both impatience and excitement, before they even got out of the car.

"We're so glad you could come at such short notice." Peter gave an awkward smile, "We don't usually ask for help unless we really need it."

"It's no problem." Jezebel smiled, as she shook their hands.

Under his breath, John commented, "Yeah, we've got to get paid somehow."

He then cleared his throat, shaking the man's hand; he looked at him, "What sort of problems is this... poltergeist giving you two then?"

"Well, it started off with just minor things, such as our phones or keys being misplaced, when we know for sure where we left them." Peter started.

"And lately it's been more extreme things... Like we'd have our food taken from us, only for it to end up in our faces." Carla added, "Or there's things we see out the corner of our eyes or for a split second, terrifying things, and when we blink - it's gone."   
  


"Well, that definitely sounds like a poltergeist, and not a spectre." Jezebel stated.

"What's the difference?" Carla inquired, as she led them into the house.

"Not much of one, but there is one there." John looked up at the large house, examining the surroundings and its exterior, before following inside, "A spectre, for starters, doesn't cause much - if any - havoc, while poltergeists do just that - cause mischief."

"Oh." She flatly replied as she and her husband turned to face their guests; she guided them into the kitchen, "My husband and I will be staying at a friend's, until you are able to sort our little problem out... But, it shouldn't take long should it?"

"Nah, this one shouldn't take all that long.... 5 hours tops." Jezebel responded with a friendly smile, one which caused John to give a half smile down at her.

"Oh, thank goodness." Peter exclaimed, "Sorry, it's just we really dislike being burdens on anyone, and I'm sure you two have better things to do... then... play around with ghosts..."

"Well, it's kinda our jobs, so it's really something we do daily." Jezebel rubbed the back of her neck.

"Would you two prefer it if we were to go out for the day, or...?" Carla began to ask.

"We do prefer privacy.... Due to some being rather dangerous, but your.... 'Friend' doesn't seem all that bad." John stated, still looking around; he frowned in concentration, before looking at the couple, "But, if you'd rather stay, sure why not."

"No... We'd be fine going out." Peter gave a light laugh.

"Very well." John nodded; he went into his bag, taking out a small cheque book, "While we do usually ask for the money when the job is done, we'd prefer to have your signatures first hand... safety reasons."

"Uh, okay." Carla stepped up, taking the pen John had just taken from his inner pocket of his coat and signing where he pointed to; Peter also took the pen, once his wife had finished, and signed, as well as adding major contact details (i.e. their mobile numbers), "So, you'll contact us once you're done?"

"Yes. As soon as we're done." Jezebel gave a sweet smile.

"Great," Peter clasped his hands together, then started to lead his wife out of the house, once he had handed the keys to John. "Here's the keys, and please, help yourselves to food, if you need it. Give us a call once your done."

Once the couple had gone, Jezebel turned to John, "Wow, they must've really wanted to get out of here."

"Heh, yeah." He closed the door, turning on his heels toward the kitchen, "Fancy a snack, luv?"

"Would love one." She grinned; they grabbed what they could and put together a quick snack of microwave chips.

"Think this one will take long?" He asked before shoving a chip into his mouth; he shrugged out of his coat, throwing it over the back of his chair.

"Nah." She shrugged, shovelling a handful of chips into her mouth, "Easy as pie."

"Heh, guess that could be said.." He stood up, pushing his plate forward and shrugging back into his coat.

"Is there any pie?" She looked up at him, hoping he would say yes.

He chuckled, "You're always thinking of food, aren't ya? It's amazing you stay so skinny."

"Maybe... Is there, though?" She twisted her body to partly face him.

"Not that I saw." He smirked; he took her hand, pulling her up, "C'mon we've got work to do."

"Aw, but I've not finished."

"I promise I'll get you a McDonald's or something once the job's done."

"You better." She stood with a smirk, "I always remember promises with food involved."

"I know." He laughed.

Once finishing their snacks, John and Jezebel began exploring the old house. Jezebel suggested they could cover more ground by splitting up. With a bit of reluctance from John, they agreed; she went to explore the upper level of the house, while he investigated the lower half.   
  


Grumbling to himself, John peered and routed through drawers - just to be nosy-; he huffed, "I don't know why she insists on doing this... We're just as good looking around together."

Meanwhile, upstairs, Jezebel was searching down the corridor when she noticed - what she guessed was - a small dog ran into a room two doors down from where she stood. She went to take a look. Upon entering the room, she was unable to see or hear any dog, but did feel another presence in the room with her.   
  


\- Inner monologue -

_Jez folded their arms, "You know, something's bound to go wrong, especially now: you're alone and foolishly following a moving shadow... Classic Horror cliche."_

_"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to see what it could actually be." Jezebel responded - mirroring her inner demon_

_Jez taunted, "Curiosity killed the ca-at."_

-Finished inner monologue -

Jezebel entered further into the room, only for the door to slam shut. She calmly stood there, arms folded, "You can come out now, whoever you are. You're safe."

A laughing that came out of nowhere caused Jezebel to unfold her arms; as she felt something slither up her leg, she screamed, even more so when she felt a pinch on her bum, "JOHN!!!"

Beetlejuice laughed, appearing to her with an arm around her waist, "Wow, sweetcheeks, I'm sure he'd want you to scream louder than that."

He still had a hand placed on her rear as he pressed into her, "Ooo, can you do my name next?"

Bursting through the door, John skidded to a halt, almost falling over the rug; he looked alarmed, "Belle, what's wrong? What happened?"

  
Beetlejuice appeared to John - an arm around his shoulder, and a huge grin on his face, "So, this is the famous 'John' you screamed about?" He laughed, grinning sinisterly, "Hmm, I dunno sweetie; I know I could get you louder."

John shoved him away angrily, "Fuck off, mate."

Beetlejuice grinned, "Why don't I fuck off with ya gal?"

John shouted, stepping forward and puffing his chest out, "NO!!"

Placing her hands on John's chest, Jezebel gently pushing him back - he pushed back against her in an attempt to fight Beetlejuice - and she slowly shook her head at him, "John..."

She turned to Beetlejuice, "What's your name?"

Beetlejuice grinned, "Beetlejuice." He took her hand in his, kissing the top, "Buttt.... There's a reason people call me BJ..." He pulled her closer, "And I can show you if you want?"

She pushed away, only to be pulled back again; she gave an awkward look, "Uh... No... thanks..."

Standing between them, John pulled her into him and held her in his arms as he sneered at Beetlejuice, "I said piss off ghost!"

"No" Beetlejuice gave a smug look, "I'm here on a job. I got a right."

"You're here on a job? You're here for the hauntings aren't you?" Jezebel curiously asked.

Leaning up against her, Beetlejuice smirked, "And, so what if I am, sweetcheeks? I was here first, and this ghosty is my business."

John sneered; he shoved Beetlejuice off her, "Yeah, well, us living have more of a right; we've got to live. We're..."

Jezebel rolled her eyes, stepping between the two of them, "Girls, why don't we just work together? It'll make the job a lot easier and it'll also be less stress for all of us, including the ghost that's stuck here, haunting this crappy building, that somehow got people to live in it.... So, what do you say? Truce?"

She smiled up at the two men, taking hold of their hands in each of hers, and bringing them into the middle, when the two of them grumbled, "Good. So, umm, Beetlejuice, was it?"

She continued when he smirked and nodded, "What do you know about this ghost so far?"

Beetlejuice went invisible for a quick couple of seconds, before appearing in John's coat with him; he chuckled, grinning, "Nout. Not seen nout of him... Just know it's a he from the records... And that he's quite shy - it's kinda been me doing the scaring round here."

Shoving the ghost exorcist out of his coat, John grumbled, "Get outta there, ya fuckin' dickwad!" 

Jezebel giggled; placed a hand on John's bicep, to calm him down, as Beetlejuice laughed at him - having floated out - "What do you mean 'records'?"

Beetlejuice pretended to be shocked, placing the tips of tentacles - that seem to grow out of nowhere - on his cheeks, "You don't know about the records?!"

He turned to a teaching skeleton, wrapping his arm around it, "They don't know about the records!"

The 'Skeleton' laughed in a high shrill voice, "They don't know about the records! Haha!"

Pushing the still laughing skeleton into the closet next to them and shuts the door, John frowned at him, "Stop clowning around; tell us what you know!"

Beetlejuice pouted, "Hmph, you're no fun, for someone who gets caught up with Lu a lot."

Jezebel tilted head, "You know Lu?"

Beetlejuice smirked "Oh, of course, sweetie; hotline to Hell. He's a personal buddy of mine!"

"Of course he is." John grumbled.

"Want me to give him a call?" Beetlejuice grinned, raising a big phone that was twice the size of his head.

John & Jezebel both shouted, "NO!!!"

"Jeez, alright, I won't. You's are missing one hell of a par-ty, though!" He threw the phone behind him - causing cats to squeal, although they were in the house still.

"We'll take your word for it... Now, these records? Can we see them?" John folded his arms as he gave an unimpressed expression.

Beetlejuice laughed, "Can I show you? No. Can I show you if you were dead? Maybe... yeah."

"We're not dying, just so you can have some 'fun' and mess with us..." Beetlejuice smirked, as John stood up to him.

"Which is why I suggested giving ol' Lu a call, charming." Beetlejuice floated over John's head, showing John's mobile - which he had taken out of his coat -.

John snatched his mobile back, "Gimme that. You're the most annoying ghost I've ever met and I've met a lot... Hmm, actually maybe you come tie with another... ghost pest.."

Jezebel gave a knowing smirk, raising an eyebrow, "You mean Jez there, don't you?"

He shrugged, with a small smile, "Meh, yeah, I was."

Beetlejuice excitedly, pinching John's cheeks, grinned, "So he does smile! How about that?!" Looked at him, smirking, "It makes you look a lot more handsome, good looking."

John grumbled, shoving Beetlejuice off him, "Get off!"

Beetlejuice smiled, "And who is this Jez you speak of? I would very much like to meet them, if I am tied with them... for whatever it may be..."

Jezebel gave an awkward laugh, "Heh, no you don't...."

Beetlejuice smirked, "Oh, so this other ghostie is what's inside you, my dear? I knew you were special when you walked into this place.... Maybe that's not just it though... I sense more to you..."

He shook his head, "Well, enough of that... Let me meet Jez!"

"No!" John pulled Jezebel along with him, out of the room, "Let's just get this case done."

Jezebel paused causing John to turn to her with a worried expression, "Belle?"

Leaned over on her knees, head down, she replied, "I'll be alright... Just... give me a couple of secs..."

John frowned, brows coming together, "No, you're not... Jez... You better not make an appearance..."

She leaned up against John, who was almost startled by the sudden movement from her, and grinned at him, "And so what if she does, hmm?

Jezebel shoved him into the wall, pinning his arms against his side; smirked up at him, "Hmm, wanna pin me down, that why?"

Watched from the side, astounded at the sudden change in her personality, Beetlejuice grinned, "Woo, we're getting good now."

John glared at Beetlejuice, and then looked back at Jezebel, "Belle, c'mon; luv, this isn't you. This is Jez trying to come out... You don't want that, you want to stop her."

Jez laughed, grinning, "She really doesn't... It's a way she can let out her feelings for you... But, you won't believe me anyway,  _sooo_ I can have my fun either way."

Beetlejuice noticed the change in Jezebel's appearance, from her completely black eyes to the deepen in her voice, "Hmm, you must be Jez..."

"How rude, John. You haven't introduced me to your new friend?" Jez grinned, playfully slapping John's chest.

John gave a light laugh; still pinned by Jez, "Ha, friend.Sure ."

Beetlejuice smirked, taking her hand and kissing it, "Beetlejuice, dearie."

Jez smirked, turning away from John, "Heh, you actually don't need to introduce yourself... I can hear most things Jezzy does." Jez grinned, raising an eyebrow, "But, I like your style."

"Can you two stop... this is actually getting kinda weird..." John grumbled.

Jez going back to John, grinning, "Aw, getting jealous?"

".... No. Can you let Jezebel back now?" John frowned, slightly avoiding eye contact with both.

"Aw, I thought we were going to have some fun..." Jez fake pouted.

"No."

"You're no fun... Fine..." Jez sighed, before letting Jezebel back.

Jezebel held her head and looked up at John, "Did... Did Jez make an appearance?"

John held her up, "Yup... Don't worry she didn't do much..."

"She seems nice." Beetlejuice smiled.   
  


Still keeping hold of Jezebel with one arm, John pointed at Beetlejuice, "Don't even think about it!"

"What? I don't know what you're on about." Beetlejuice innocently smiled.  
  
"Hmm." John turned back to Jezebel, helping her over to a wooden seat; he looked at Jezebel, "You alright, sweet'eart?"

"Yeah... Yeah I think so..." She managed to give him a smile, though she felt weak.

"Wanna sit down?"

"No, I'm... fine..." She stood up, "Let's just help this ghost cross over and get this case sorted."

She walked passed him, heading down the corridor; John watched her, with a worried frown and furrowed brows, before following after her, "Hmm,"

"You thinking on something, handsome?" Beetlejuice smirked, appearing directly in front of John, who almost tripped over his feet.

"Bloody hell," He shouted, "Do you have to fucking do that?"

"Yes."

"Don't." John began to light a cigarette, "And yes, if you must know, I was thinking on something. Just not your business to know."

Beetlejuice blew on the lighter John was using to light his cig, smirking at the annoyed look John gave him, "Those things'll kill ya."

"Do I look assed?" He raised an eyebrow, trying to light the cigarette again.

"No..." He grinned, as he blew it out again, "But, I still wanna know what you're thinking about."

John sighed, using his magic to now light the cigarette - turning away from Beetlejuice -, "I'm thinking you're a bloody pest."

"Nah, you know that's not what I was on about. Tell me, that lil' miss, you feel something for her, don't you?" Beetlejuice grinned knowingly, seeing the light blush creep on John's cheeks as he turned away, "Ah, you do. Is that why you're so protective of her? Why you hate it when this Jez appears? Afraid something bad will happen to your Juliet, eh, Romeo?"

"Bugger off." John sneered, chasing after Jezebel; he took long strides, and peered into all the rooms, until he found her.

Jezebel was kneeling down in the grand master bedroom; she knelt by an old closet, her back to the door and looking like she was examining something in the corner. John strolled up to her, Beetlejuice in tow, and stood over her. He watched what she was doing, "Found something of interest, luv?"

"I think the ghost's presence is strongest here.... There's also something... behind here." She pressed and pushed against the wall, getting the occasional 'who's there' from Beetlejuice; she looked at John, "You could help, you know."

He shrugged, throwing the finished cigarette to the floor and stomping it out, "Alright."

"It's also rude to crush a cig butt on the floor in other people's houses, let alone smoke without permission." She smirked.

He smirked in return, looking at her with a raised eyebrow, "Do I strike you as a man who cares about permission?"

"No." She smiled, "Though, I guess I should know that by now, huh?"

"Yes." He laughed; the two of them knocked on the walls and floor of the closest.

"Hey, guys, would it help if you moved this fake wall?" Beetlejuice phased out of the wall, shifting the wall he was talking about to show a passageway.   
  
John looked at Jezebel, frowning and unsure. She stood up, shrugging in response to him being uncertain, and brushed herself down. She noted that Beetlejuice hovered over her as she peered into the now-revealed passageway. Her brows furrowed for a quick second, but she also shrugged that off, thinking that it was just his character to be nosy. John grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around to face him.

"Luv, are you sure? We don't know what's down there, and it might not be all the safe without preparing first."

"John, since when were you bothered about it being safe? You're usually the one to jump head first into danger, anyway." She grinned at him, folding her arms; she headed toward the passage, holding her arms out, "See, perfectly safe."

"I still dunno. Something still feels off."

With that being said, the passage's door closed; Jezebel began banging her fists against the wall, "John, I can't get through!"

"Open it!" He demanded to Beetlejuice, who held his hands up.

"It's sealed itself off." Beetlejuice looked at the wall, and then back to John.

"Well, find another way! We've got to get her out. There's no telling what this bloody ghost could do." John frowned, as he examined the wall too; he called to Jezebel, "We're gonna go get rid of this ghost, Belle, and we'll come straight back for you. Promise. Just try to find another way, for the time being. Look around for anything that could help you."

"Okay." A quietened version of Jezebel's voice came from the other side; she began to do as he had suggested and look around for anything or anywhere that provided a way out.

Beetlejuice smirked at John, "I thought you wanted to save your princess first?"

"First off, she'd hate you calling her that. Second, as I said before: there's no telling what that ghost could do, especially now she's alone, so dealing with him would be better than leaving it."

"I guess it's just you and me then, Johnny boy." Beetlejuice wrapped an arm around John's shoulders, pulling him closer to him; in return, he got a death glare and John leaning away.

"Stop that."

"Aw, c'mon," He grinned, "Get into the team spirit. Get it 'spirit'. Ha."

John gave an annoyed expression, pushing himself off the undead exorcist, "Yes. I do."

He sighed, adventuring into the hallway and back to where he last left his bag - where he first met Beetlejuice. He grabbed it, and jogged back to the room Jezebel stated the ghost's presence was the strongest. John set himself down, on the floor, and took out the items he had required. All the while, Beetlejuice lingered over him - causing him to feel agitated.

"Can you make yourself useful, and actually help bring the ghost to view?" John glanced up at the ghostly exorcist; the annoyance that clearly stuck on his face caused Beetlejuice to grin.

"I could."

"Then go."

Beetlejuice changed his hand to look more like a sock-puppet version of John; he moved his hand much like a puppet would as well, copying John's words, in a much kiddier tone of voice and shaking his head from side to side, "Then go."

Due to the mocking he did, Beetlejuice received a glare. He laughed, before vanishing, leaving John to focus on the ritual he planned on doing to capture the haunting house guest. Beetlejuice watched from the doorway for a couple of seconds, before going in search of the ghost. This in fact didn't take long as Robert Green stayed close to where he died - his old armchair, which stayed nearly untouched. Beetlejuice grinned, and conjured up a plan to lure him into John's trap.

Robert stood over the fireplace, running his transparent hand over the mantle. He sadly sighed, as he dearly missed his family - especially his dear wife. He flopped himself onto his chair, which he missed feeling the soft, but springy cushions. At the thought of his family - specifically his wife -, Robert heard a familiar humming from the kitchen. He stood and followed it. He spotted his wife in the kitchen, her back to him.

"Cecilia?" He called, hope in his faint voice.

Unbeknownst to him, Beetlejuice had disguised himself as part of the trick to lure Robert in the trap. He pretended he hadn't heard the ghost, and 'floated' toward the staircase. He led the poor, unsuspecting Mr Green into the room, that John had set the ghost trap. He stopped just after it, being careful not to be inside the painted symbol when John used the Tsimshian soul catcher to imprison the old man's ghost. The ghost hovered toward Beetlejuice, stopping right where they wanted him. John took this as his cue, setting off the soul catcher.

Once the ghost is caught within the soul catcher, Beetlejuice began to laugh; this caused John to look toward him, in annoyed shock, "The fuck are you laughing at?"

"Oh, this is rich; you've been in this job for how long, and you still can't tell when you're being played." Beetlejuice wiped away a fake tear from his eye, "Hey, look at that, I just conned the conman."

"You're a piece of shit. You know that?" John sneered, "All this for what?"

"For that old fool's soul of course." He grinned, tilting his head slightly and closing his eyes; he certainly did look impressed with himself.

"You couldn't have done that alone? What did you need us for?!" John folded his arms, questioning the ghostly exorcist.

A terrifying laugh rang throughout the house; it would have startled John to his core had his life not be full of supernatural/ paranormal happenings. He simply stood there, waiting for an answer - impatiently, but he waited.

"Oh, I could have done it alone... I didn't honestly need you two to get the soul, but...." Beetlejuice stalked closer to John, who at this moment unfolded his arms and backed more toward the door, and he gave a menacing grin, "I simply brought you here because your lil' princess' ghost powers helped me to detect where he was hiding. It was also cause I wouldn't mind adding the two of you to my lil' collection I have."

John gulped, now feeling a little more terrified than usual, "I'm kinda afraid to ask, but what collection do you mean?"

"Why...Souls of course!" Beetlejuice's face sunk in, his features disappearing and face left blank; his body twisted to look like a twig, his back bent out of shape.

John took this as note to run; he headed toward the lower level of the house, and toward the more brighter areas of the house. He almost skidded over on himself at least twice, especially from the carpets he slipped on. He thought he had almost gotten away from the chase Beetlejuice gave, when he bumped into someone on the way down the stairs to the basement.

"Shit." He rubbed his head, afraid to look at what or whoever he crashed into; he also, however, heard that the other person echoed him. He turned to face them, finding Jezebel nursing her own head, "Belle... you're alright?"

"Well, yeah," She gave a confused, yet happy smile; she became surprised when he hugged her, "Why wouldn't I be? The ghost is harmless, ya know?"

"I know." He stepped away from her, helping the both of them up, "It's not him we have to worry about, luv."

"Why?" She raised a worried eyebrow, "What've you done? Wait, where's... where's Beetlejuice?" 

"Why do you assume I've done something?" He mumbled; they both received a scare when a ear-splitting screech rang throughout the basement, "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"Uhh..." She grabbed hold of John's arm, leaning against him, "Let's not."

She yanked John toward the way she had just come, taking all the turns she had found. She explained to him that while he was sorting out their ghostly 'friend', she had been exploring the tunnels in which she was stuck, and did eventually find a way out of the house, although it was a fair distance away from the actual house. It lead to outside of the town, yet it would provide safety in that situation they were currently in.

"Anything's better than here." John shot a glance over his shoulder to see how close in proximity Beetlejuice's horrifying form was; this, however, provided him a problem as he ended up tripping on an old clunk of metal, "Crap."

From behind him, he heard, "You can run, but you can't hide, Johnny boy."

"John, c'mon get up!" Jezebel attempted to yank John back to his feet.

He winced, "I can't... My ankle, I must've caught it on something."

The tauntings of Beetlejuice neared, "I'm gonna add you to my collection. You and your pretty girl will be the best souls I would have captured, even Lu would be jealous."

"Luv, run; go get help." He gently took hold of her arm, "I'll be fine."

"Don't be stupid, John. I'm not leaving you." She settled herself beside him, as she began working on his ankle - which evidently had a small fracture to it and quite a large cut that bleed a fair bit -.

"Ugh, you're so stubborn." He sighed, "Just go."

"No."

As the two argued whether Jezebel would stay or go, Beetlejuice came up behind them. He waited to over tower them, until they started to get on his nerves. He scoffed, raising himself above their head level, causing them both to give terrified expressions - like deer in headlights. Beetlejuice cackled, his hands reaching out for them.

"Beetlejuice!" The voice of a young girl came; John and Jezebel turned toward it, and they find a pretty girl around the age of 17-18, in a red dress and her black hair in a pineapple-styled ponytail.

She stepped up to the currently-terrifying looking Beetlejuice with confidence and bravery. The two of them didn't know if she was stupid or just feared nothing at all. They looked between each other, before looking at the scene playing out before them. Beetlejuice took to his usual form - his usual size, usual striped suit and pale skin. She grabbed hold of the ghost's ear and made off toward the back of the room; she sternly spoke with Beetlejuice, occasionally pointing over at the two of them.

After a few minutes of her telling Beetlejuice off, and John and Jezebel exchanging rather confused expressions, the girl led the ghost back over to them, stating, "Apologise," through gritted teeth.

In a way that sounded forced, Beetlejuice did just that, "S-sorry."

"He really is." She gave an awkward smile, "He's not usually this bad, and he will honestly let that poor ghost man go, at least somewhere he can rest in peace, and he won't bother you two again, will you?"

Her suddenly turning to him, caused Beetlejuice to become startled and quickly nod in response. This also caused John and Jezebel to smirk at the situation, albeit, still confused smirks. The girl sweetly smiled at the two of them, adding, "My name's Lydia, by the way, and if he ever does bother you again, just call my mobile."

She handed the two of them a piece of paper with a mobile number on it, before literally leading Beetlejuice away by his ear. She was mumbling some tellings off to him as she did as well. Once they disappeared, John and Jezebel looked at one another, stating, "What the Hell just happened?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was originally meant to be spur of the moment/ just for fun type thing, and started as a script, but I liked how it came out and I got it suggested to me that it should be made canon in the Jezebel verse, so here ya go :3


	47. Bump In The Night

Down in the pits of Hell, in a large room made of rock, specifically being red, three of the seven deadly sins were waiting on the rest of their siblings to attend their meeting. The sins in question were Seganam - the sin of sloth -, Elodie - the sin of greed - and Sumayah - the sin of pride; they were talking among each other around a large table made of the same material the room they resided in was. What it was would be unknown to those who did not speak Latin.

Sumayah, looking at her painted nails, gave an impenitent smirk, "You guys are so lucky; you don't have to put up with all those other demons coming up to you, beckoning to your every call."

To her side, Seganam yawned as he leaned back in his seat; his arms folded across his chest. Every so often, when his egotistical sister asked 'Are you even listening to me?' he nodded and peaked an eye open, causing his sister to continue bragging about herself. To the left of him, his other sister - Elodie -, kept looking around for items.

When spotting something she admired the look of, she grabbed it and screeched, "Mine!"

Seganam shook his head at this, knowing how grabby his younger sister could get; he just left her to it, not feeling in the mood to stop her, though he never did anyway. He hoped their other siblings got here quicker, so he was able to go back to resting in his bed. He had a long day of sleeping to get through.

His wish of his siblings coming sooner was granted; the first to enter was the youngest of the deadly sins: Odysseia - the demon of wrath - and as usual, she looked grumpy - not in the mood to talk. She sighed as she seated herself across from Seganam, who peeped open one eye as she entered. She muttered to herself, a little too loudly that he heard her.

"Ugh, why can't we just go my way.. It's quicker and we're less likely to get caught that way." and "These morons don't even know how to plan a meeting, never mind a bloody escape route." were of the many complaints she had to make to herself.

They were cut short when the rest of their siblings also started to arrive, one by one. Once the last of them had arrived (minus Livia and Ceri - considering they were already in the human world; Livia with Dusk, and Ceri attempting to find his sister), the meeting started.

The remaining five of the seven deadly sins began to discuss an attempt to escape their fate in Hell, their prison; when it was evident to them that they needed help from the outside to get out, Sumayah, sighed before suggesting, "Why don't we contact Livy? Clearly, she found a way; we could find out how. I could attempt to contact her, right now, in fact."

The others agree to her idea; she summoned up items that would allow her to contact her older sister to see if they were willing to help from the outside. This proved to be a failure as they can't contact her for unknown reasons.

The sin of Gluttony, otherwise known as Beelzebub, grumpily suggested, as he chowed down on a leg of chicken, "Might I suggest, Ceri - he also got out as well. Why not contact him?"

They nodded in agreement, as Sumayah proudly prepared herself to contact her brother. The Lust demon answered their attempt to contact him with a smirk, and a loud, "Well, look at who it is? What's up sissy?"

"We need your help getting out of this Hell pit, Ceri." Elodie barged her sister to the side so she was in view for her brother; he chuckled at the look Sumayah gave Elodie.

"Hmm," He pretended to think on the request of his sister, before smiling, "No, I quite like being without all of you. It's nice being on my own, especially for this long. From what I've heard, you guys won't get very far either with the ideas you've got. They're really quite... stupid. To put it politely. Try to find your own way out, it's really worth the while, dearies."

"Ceri, you really are a son of a bitch!" Beelzebub sat up from his seat, spitting toward his brother. 

"Bee, darlin, we've come from the same mother... so to speak..." He laughed before leaving the line.

  
They attempted to agree on an idea that at least got them far enough into the human world that they were able to cause a little bit of mischief or find one of their freed siblings. None of them agreed with any of the ideas. Due to the argument going on longer than she hoped for, Odysseia became rather agitated and bored of her siblings. She took off to find her own way out due to being too eager to get in some killing for revenge. To be more specific, to kill John for trapping her and her siblings (more so herself) in Hell.

She grabbed hold of Seganam to go with her, claiming to him, "I would rather someone to throw at danger, than myself."

Seganam lazily followed after her to the human world, rolling his eyes, knowing she really meant she preferred someone as support beside her. They find a portal via a small opening in the older parts of the cells they were kept in. Unfortunately, it also caused the two siblings to be separated in the human world. Seganam tried to look for his sister for a short while, only to end up feeling exhausted from it. He took to having a nap in the nearby graveyard, once finding a corpse to reanimate - not exactly feeling up to trying to possess a live vessel. .

Meanwhile, Odysseia went on the hunt for a vessel of her own since she knew of how easily Lucifer's demon minions were able to track her in her usual form. She found her vessel in Oswald Cobblepot, a person she sensed had a lot of rage inside him. She found him while he trudged the streets of Gotham, having been defeated by the Batman. While inside his body, she found that her other siblings had also escaped, though not being able to find their own vessels made it especially easy for Lu's minions to find them and take them back to Hell.

As the first few words of his favourite song came on, John began to slowly nod his head to it. He was trying to fight the urge to dance due to working a case, but found himself doing it anyway. As the song kicked in, he pinpointed that his head banging got more frequent and his foot started tapping.

_This night ain't for the faint of heart_

_For the faint of heart, for the faint of heart_

By the time these lyrics were finished, John was on his feet; he started dancing pretty much just to mess around, but did actually get into the song enough to get in some proper dance moves - at least for him -. Jezebel was sat doing some of her own work, when she looked up to spot him doing this. She shook her head, going back to reading - a smile now appearing on her face.

_This night ain't for the holy man with the holy plan_

_For the promise land_

_This night we got the evil hand_

_And the evil hand gonn' raise the dead_

He continued to dance on his own for majority of the song, and when the last chorus came on, he had grabbed hold of Jezebel's hand; he pulled her to her feet, even as she shouted protests at him. She laughed more compared to previous times as he goofed around, pulling her in all kinds of directions and twirling her. He got a little too excited as he tripped over her feet and caused the two of them to fall onto the couch. He leaned on her, the two of them laughing as the song came to an end.

"John. You dork." She giggled, leaning back against him.

His response to this was kissing her on the cheek, chuckling, "You know it, luv."

She blushed, still with a huge smile on her face, and went silent. Aaron broke the silence as he shuffled into the room. He smirked, having seen what the two had previously been up to. He perched himself on the arm of the couch. He had been allowed to stay with Jezebel for another few days due to her suggesting it to his parents that it would be a good idea for him to meet Anya, who she and John had planned on visiting later that week.

As their laughter calmed, John's phone went off. He got up, grabbing his phone from out of his trench coat. He saw that it was an unknown number; he frowned before answering, "Constantine?"

From the other side of the phone, a tiny voice answered, "John?"

"Anya?" He looked confused, "Is everything okay, sweetheart?"

"Yeah... Well, I don't know... It's mummy... She's acting weird." She paused for a short amount of time that it caused John to get a little worried, "Can you come up sooner? I'm kinda worried about her..."

"Sure, but you need to tell me something."

"Yeah?"

"Has anything new happened recently? Anything you  _think_  could have changed her... mood?"

"Well, she got a new boyfriend recently... He's nice and all... but mum is acting really weird."

"Hmm," He paused in thought, before answering with, "Okay, luv; hang tight, we'll be up in a day or two."

"Okay... thank you, John." Anya smiled from the other end of the phone.

"You're welcome, sweetheart." He ended the call, turning to Jezebel and Aaron, "Looks like our trip has been moved forward."

"Why? Has something happened to Anya? Is she alright?" Jezebel immediately jumped up; he put his hands on her shoulders, and lowered her back to the couch, him joining her.

"Woah, luv, she's just worried about her mum. She's apparently acting a little weird." He half smiled at her, glancing at her; she folded her arms.

A couple of days granted the three of them to get together items of what they might require. Afterall, they didn't know what they were going up against. Jezebel, wanting to be safe, packed pretty much everything except the kitchen sink. They packed as much as they were able into Chas' cab, which they had borrowed for a few days while he was spending time with his daughter.

Aaron was excited to say the least; this was especially evident as they piled into the car. He continuously asked questions, causing John to turn back to him before starting the car up, "Woah, kid; we haven't even set off yet. Can we leave the stories for on the way?"

"Heh, sorry." He blushed, giving an awkward grin, "Got a little too excited there."

"Can tell." John gave a light laugh, turning to the front again; they set off.

When the journey had officially started, Aaron held back on asking his questions; at least for a few minutes. He looked to John, tilting his head. He wondered what his life was like before Jezebel came into it.

"Hey, John."

"Yeah, kid?"

"What did you do before Jezzy came into your life, like was your job the same? Were you the same? Did you do the same thing as now?"

John, trying to catch up with the questions, paused; it took him a while to answer, not only because of the first reason, but because he was a little embarrassed about a lot of his past. Aaron noticed this pause, and was about to tell John that he didn't have to talk about it if he didn't want to.

"Well, it's not much of a life, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell ya." John gave a light chuckle; he paused again, this time getting Jezebel to look at him, "Umm... Where do you want me to start then?"

"How about those photos that I managed to get a look at? I wanna know more about your Mucous Membrane days... I bet you got up to a lot of mischief then, didn't ya, Johnny?" Jezebel giggled.

"Uh... Okay, I guess that would be a good starting point, considering it wasn't long before I met you, Belle."

"It wasn't?" She cocked her head to the side, "How come I hadn't heard of your band? Then again..."

"Yeah, we weren't very known." He nervously chuckled, "We were pretty much in it for the ladies and money."

"Typical of you then?" She grinned at him, who shrugged in response.

"Is that why your right ear is pierced?" Aaron asked, leaning more forward; his hands on the back of Jezebel's seat, "What kinda things did you get up to?"

"You noticed that? Kinda surprised you did, not really had any earrings in there in, uh, forever." He laughed, "Heh, what didn't we get up to."

"Go on, we want to know." Jezebel added; she eagerly leaned toward John.

"The usual that young kids would get into when in a band: trash shit, get into trouble. The usual. Gave me a habit of lying to cops a lot..."

"Yeah I noticed that too. You've never really told the truth to cops, even Jim."

John, smirking, replied, "Heh, yeah."

"You do lie a lot, John." Aaron added with a laugh.

"Yeah, yeah. We get it kid." He smirked, "I thought you wanted to know?"

"We do." Both Aaron and Jezebel stepped in.

"Oh, there was also a small instance that caused me to be terrified of dogs for a short while, in my youth." John added.

"You were scared of dogs?" Jezebel asked, "Is that why you were anxious about keeping Cai?"

"Uh... Kinda yeah... I guess."

"Why didn't you say?"

"I'm not as bad as I was... besides, Cai's grown on me." He smirked at her.

"Oh." She gave him a sweet smile, "Well, next time, I would prefer to know if something bothers you."

"Sure, luv. Sure." He smirked.

"What happened to make you scared of them?" Aaron asked.

  
"Well, something stupid I did to begin with." John awkwardly laughed, "I ended up being chased by the cops... and their dogs..."

"What did you do to warrant that?" Jezebel asked.

"Ah, well, as I said something stupid...."

"Obviously, John." She laughed.

"Well, yeah... I can't remember exactly, but I think it was something to do with my mates daring me to break into a jewellery store we were passing by... They dared me to break into it and take something that looked costly. Trust me when I say this: I took what I could and ran, because at the time I was really drunk and just did it... so the alarm ended up being set off. "  
  
"Yeah, how did you know that alarm went off?" Jezebel asked.

"It was loud as fuck." He chuckled.

"Fair enough."

"So, go on, how'd the chase go?" Aaron excitedly asked; he had been known to love action movies, and this - to him - sounded very similar to one.

"Well to start with, me mates had quickly ditched me." He frowned, "But, that also led to the cops easily finding the culprit. The cops that were on duty, also happened to be cops that had dogs on them, so they were brought to the scene. I made my exit the way I had gone in: a smashed, side window."

"Ever the one to make an entrance; hey, John?" Jezebel smirked.

"Too right, sweetheart" He winked at her causing her to blush, though he didn't see due to being focused on the road, "Anyway, the dogs must've seen me climb out the window, cause next thing I knew I had a few dogs up my bloody ass. I immediately gave chase, and they did in turn."

He paused to take a breath, before continuing, "I gave them the slip a couple of times, but they did catch up as well. I thought I gave them the slip, when I jumped into a garden. Fortunately, I ditched the cop dogs. Unfortunately, I also happened upon a few other dogs."

"That sucks... well, for you... at the time." Jezebel giggled.

"Yeah...Especially when they started barking."

"You did, probably, scare the poor things." Jezebel pouted, though ended up smirking.

"Huh, how do you think I felt?" He smirked back, "Yeah, well, they kinda alerted the cop dogs, and before I knew it, they had cornered me. Tell ya what though, sobered me up."

"Yeah, but I bet on that chase you ended up tripping a few times." She giggled.

"I did, actually." John gave a light laugh.

"I was joking, but that sounds hilarious."

"Oh, yeah, make light outta a bad situation I went through. It's fine, luv." He pouted, though it was evident he was joking with her, especially by the glint in his eyes.

"Hey, you know I'd have felt bad at the time, but it was basically your fault you ended up in that situation, so it's good to laugh about it now."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He grinned, "Anyway, yeah, they ended up cornering me, and one of the cop dogs lunged. My legs were up, to protect myself, so it ended up clamping itself to one of them. I ended up with one Hell of a scar afterwards though. Luckily, before anything else happened, the cops arrived. I was arrested."

"You ended up with a scar; can I see?" Aaron asked, leaning more forward and toward John, "Pleasseeee!"

"Alright, kid; alright." Using one hand, he leant down to roll up his trouser leg; on the knee of his right leg was 2 long, curved scars, parallel from one another, "And there's the victory scar."

"Cool." Aaron responded with.

"Hardly what I call a victory scar, John." Jezebel laughed as he shrugged, "You were caught."

Roughly 15 minutes before they arrived at Anya's, Jezebel turned the volume of the radio up, considering it was on low while they talked. She gave a satisfied smile, when she came across a channel she usually liked. As she settled on one, the song Dancing Queen (ABBA) was starting up. Aaron, quietly, started humming the song, and not long after starting to sing. Jezebel was next to join; both of them raising the volume of their voices a tad bit.   
  


John, on the other hand, was not interested in the slightest. This caused the other two to look at one another, smiling. They made it a secret goal of theirs to get him to sing before the next chorus. Eventually, with a bit of pushing from Jezebel and Aaron, he joined on the chorus. Hearing John sing the words 'Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah' caused Jezebel to laugh uncontrollably. She had to stop singing and had John pouting at her the rest of the way.

The three of them continued to sing along, though; they still were by the time they pulled into the cul de sac that Anya lived in. Jezebel and John stopped singing as they focused on finding her house. Aaron continued, though more quietly. He was still doing so when Anya approached the car. He became embarrassed when he noticed she was stood by his window, smiling sweetly at him.

Jezebel got Aaron to come out of the car, and he did, but they were awkwardly stood across from one another. There was a short silence between the two of them; Aaron felt a heat on his cheeks, as he tried to hide his face. She was the first to break it.

She gave an awkward smile, and a small wave, "Hi, I'm Anya."

"Aaron." Was all he said, still trying to hide his face.

Anya looked Aaron over, noticing the many bug-like features his body had, including the scale effect his skin gave. She admired the look of it. She smiled at him more genuinely now.

" _Oh_ , you have such big eyes." Anya gave a curious head tilt.

"What do you mean by that? My eyes are perfectly normal..." Aaron glanced up, now frowning.

"I... I didn't mean it in a bad way..."

" _Of course_ _not_ _, no one_ _ever_ _means it in a bad way_."

Jezebel stepped in, putting an arm around his shoulders, "Aaron, c'mon; she didn't mean any harm."

John, at the time, had his back to them; as he rooted through the trunk of the car for his bag of tricks. He eventually found it, going back over to Jezebel and the kids. He gave a smile to Anya, hinting to go toward the house. Anya led the way. She opened the door for them to enter, and she followed behind.

"Mum, John and Jezebel are here to visit. They came early cause they couldn't wait!" Anya announced, before turning back to them, "Don't tell her it's cause I'm worried about her... She'll think I'm being paranoid..."

"Okay kiddo, no problem." John ruffled her hair causing her to giggle; behind the two of them, Aaron huffed due to feeling John favoured the girl.

Charlie - Anya's mum - popped her head around the door frame to the front room -; she smiled, "Oh, it's nice to see you two again. Ozzy, come meet our guests."

"Ozzy?" John and Jezebel looked between each other, before looking toward the doorway; from the front room, Oswald Cobblepot emerged with a huge, love-struck grin on his face, confusing the occult detectives furthermore as they had previously, but briefly met him through CB.

"Oswald, this is John and Jezebel. They helped to better mine and Anya's relationship, as well as myself." Charlie cuddled into Penguin, although he was slightly shorter than she; she too had a love-struck grin on her face, "John. Jezebel. Oswald and I started dating not long ago, and we've been happy ever since."

"Uh-huh." John frowned raising an eyebrow, folding his arms; Jezebel looked up at him, her mouth opening to speak, "Well, I guess we better get booked in a hotel?"

"Oh, don't be silly; we have a spare bedroom." Charlie waved her hand; still linked with Oswald, she pulled the two detectives toward the room they would be staying in, "Now, Aaron - was it - will have to sleep in Anya's room, on the little couch we have in there, but you two should feel right at home in this room together."

John looked around the room seeing only one bed, "How so?"

By the time he had turned back to her, Charlie and Oswald had left the room; he then looked to Jezebel, who in turn looked to him, confused as much as he was. She looked at the bed, and then back to him again.

"I have dibs on the bed." She grinned, "You sleep on the floor."

"Aw, c'mon. It's not like we haven't shared a bed before." John whined, "We'll just do what we usually do when you come to sneak into my bed. You sleep one end and I sleep the other."

"You do realise that's a single bed, right?." She giggled; she looked out the window, "Can we just get our bags in, before it gets too dark?"

"Still..." He suddenly went quiet, smirking to himself; he and Jezebel went back to the cab, after checking in on Aaron and Anya, to get the bags, to get settled.

It was rather awkward and silent between the two adolescents; Anya looked at him, then looked away, and then it was Aaron's turn to look at her, look away.   
  
After a short amount of time, Aaron sighed, rubbing his arm, "I'm really sorry for the way I acted earlier... Jezebel was right, you didn't mean any harm... I think you were trying to give me a compliment... but I think cause of how I was brought up, I think everyone actually means something bad when they say something about me."

"You don't have to apologise... I understand." Anya gave him a sweet smile.

John peaked his head around the door, "You kids alright?"

The two of them chimed, both turning to face him with a smile, "Yeah."

Early the next morning, a grouchy John trudged his way to the kitchen, sore from being made to sleep on the floor. As he entered, Oswald and Charlie greeted him to which he replied with an inaudible sound. The first agenda he had in mind was making some coffee to wake him up; he yanked a mug from the cup rack, and boiled the kettle, before trudging over to the fridge to get the milk out. Once the kettle boiled, he sluggishly made his coffee.

After taking a sample of his drink and feeling satisfied with it, he looked to the couple, "You two are up rather early?"

"We have plans for today." Oswald simply said, still with that love-struck smile; it was starting to creep John out.

"Fair enough."

"What about you? Why are you up so early?" Charlie asked.

"I couldn't sleep... The floor isn't as comfy as it looks. I actually considered going to sleep in the cab." John replied, taking a couple of sips of his coffee.

"Why did you do that?" Charlie asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion

"Belle, she made me sleep on the floor; she took dibs on the bed.."

"No, I mean why didn't you just share the bed?"

"Not like there's any room. Plus, it'd be kinda awkward on a bed that size."

"How so?" Oswald matched his girlfriend's expression of confusion.

John looked to him, raising an eyebrow, "Cause we're not a couple like you guys? So, yeah..."

"You're not?" Oswald raised an eyebrow, giving a light laugh, "With how you two act, and what Charlie's told me, it sounds like you are."

"Yeah, well, we're not..."

Their conversation was cut short, when Aaron and Anya trudged through the kitchen door; Anya behind Aaron. They both gave tired smiles to the people in the room, receiving at least one 'good morning'. They settled themselves at the breakfast nook, Aaron volunteering to make breakfast for the two of them. He got up and grabbed the box of Fruit Loops, pouring some into a bowl each. After pouring the milk into Anya's cereal (he preferred his dry), he took them over to the table that they sat at, handing Anya her bowl.

"Aw, he's such a gentleman." Charlie gleamed, looking to Oswald, who nodded in return, "Isn't he, Ozzy?"

John gave a short laugh going to take a sip of his brew, "More than me that's for sure."

"You can be... sometimes... Rarely." Jezebel yawned from behind him; he turned to see that she was smiling at him.

"Good morning, Belle." John smirked, then raising the pitch of his voice as if to mimic her, "Oh, good morning, John. I guess I should have started with that one first instead of insulting you."

"Oh, you're so funny." She pouted, folding her arms; when he grinned at her as he took the last few gulps of his drink, Jezebel stuck out her tongue.

"I know, luv. I'm hilarious." He grinned.

"You two got plans for today?" Oswald turned to look between John and Jezebel.

"We were going to spend it with yous two and the kids, but if you've got things to do, we'll take care of those two for the day?" Jezebel smiled sweetly at them.

"That would be great." Charlie chimed in.

"Yeah, we've got a few things to sort out, before we can have a bit of fun with you guys." Oswald smirked; the way he smirked caused John to raise an eyebrow in suspicion, but the smirk quickly disappeared, "And the kids of course."

"Yeah... Of course." The corner of John's lips twitched into a smile, but was taken over by the confusion he had.

Jezebel tilted her head at him, but would wait until they were alone to ask what it was that had him so puzzled; she looked back at the couple before them, "I'm sure we can find something for us and kids to do."

"Hey, we can hear you, you know?!" Anya jumped in, smiling.

"Yeah. and we're not kids... We're young adults!" Aaron followed, him too smiling as wide as Anya.

Later, once everyone was dressed and ready, Aaron and Anya were left with the two occult detectives to choose something to do. Jezebel pondered on an activity that would keep all of them happy and occupied, and she refrained from saying a library. She took a glance at John, and it looked - to her - that he had no ideas at all to help. He blankly stared, leaning on the palm of his hand and on his knee. He was in thought.

"Hey, John; have any ideas what we could do with the kids?" She looked at him; a small smile and a raised eyebrow.

"What?" He blinked a couple of times, before raising his head off his hand and looking at her, "Uh, not yet. No."

"Thanks for the help, John." She smirked at him.

"We don't have to go out to do something with them. We could just stay in, play board games or summit." John gave a lazy shrug, leaning back against the couch.

"Oh yeah, I have a few in my room." Anya ran off to her room; she was in there for a while, before she came back with a stack of board games.

As John looked through the pile, the frown on his face got longer; the list of the games he saw only got worse.

"Pie Face.... Speak Out... Risk...Doggie Doo? Who comes up with this crap?" John shook his head in disbelief, "What happened to the classics, like Monopoly or Twister... Or Cluedo?"

"John, that's kids nowadays." Jezebel smirked at him.

"If you don't like these, I think my mummy has some in the attic, if you wanna check?" Anya grinned, "These are just games that my dad got me for my last birthday... He doesn't really pay attention to what I like..."

"Sure, let's go check out the creepy-ass attic then." John sprang up, heading toward the attic stairs; with the girls and Aaron behind him, they headed up there.

It took them a while to find a few board games that they liked the look of, including Monopoly and Cluedo. When they did, the four of them made their way back to the front room. Jezebel set one of the games up, while John made snacks, with the kids' help. It provided the two occult detectives and two young adolescents with a bit of entertainment for at least an hour or so. In this time, Charlie and Oswald had come back, but had not yet come in.

It seemed as if they were talking to one another for ages. Charlie didn't look happy for whatever reason, but Aaron noticed that the look quickly faded when Oswald lifted a hand and gently waved it in her face. Her expression changed to the love-struck one she had been wearing the whole time that he, John and Jezebel had been there. The couple then came in, all loved up again. Aaron had shrugged the moment off and continued with the board game.

A few hours later, John had gotten a call to tell him that he and Jezebel were wanted in the town centre for a few small things, specifically to meet up with Jim Corrigan for a bit of information on a previous case that they were working on at the time. They also went to grab a bite to eat out. This left Anya and Aaron in the hands of Oswald. The two kids noted that Charlie hadn't been around for a short time either.

"Hey, Oz; where's mum?" Anya asked, tugging on the short man's blazer.

"Uh, she went out earlier, sweetie. She still not back?" Oswald frowned, raising an eyebrow; he knelt down a bit more to her level, "Hmm, I guess I could go look for her on the street, maybe she's visiting one of the neighbours or something.... You two be alright, while I'm gone?"

The two nodded in response, before Oswald walked out the door. They looked at one another, before settling on the couch. Aaron had a bit of a suspicion that Oswald was acting weird again. He stood up, Anya watching for a short second before going back to her cartoons, and walked over to the window. He peeped the blinds open to see that Oswald was stood by the garage. He looked to be chatting with someone.

"Anya, Oswald is talking to someone, but it didn't look like your mum... Does he know many people around here?"

"He did just say he was going to look for mum, maybe he's asking someone."

Aaron sighed to himself, looking back at Oswald - who had moved more around the corner -, and went toward the back door, "I'm going to check, just in case."

Aaron snuck toward the garage, being as stealthy as he was able; he slinked along the house wall, stopping just before the corner. He leaned more toward them. He was definitely able to hear Oswald's voice, but the other one he did not recognise.

"Oddy, how long is this gonna take?" They sounded whiny, like they no longer wanted to be in a certain situation; it was male that was for sure.

"Segenam, it'll take as long as it will. I need time to get the trap ready. Those two bloody occultists will be fooled. I will make sure of that, dear brother." Before Aaron's eyes, Oswald's form changed to that of Odysseia's for mere seconds, "I just wish this stupid disguise would last... He's starting to get the hang of taking over his body again."

"Is that love spell still working?" Segenam asked, lazily raising his eyebrow.

"Barely." Odysseia frowned, "I had to lock the mother up somewhere."

Aaron gasped, running back into the house; he quickly shut all the doors, making sure the windows were locked. All the while, Anya looked at him with puzzlement, going to ask what he was doing.

"Oswald is possessed by a demon and he was talking with another demon!" Aaron started, "I know who they are... They're the sins of Sloth and Wrath... I know for a fact that they've got your mum locked up somewhere and they're gonna trap John and Jezzy!"

For a short while, Anya blankly stared and it started to frustrate Aaron that she hadn't believed him, but then she replied with a panicked, "We gotta get John and Jezzy! We gotta do something!"

The two ran for the front door, hoping to run up the street to see if the occult detectives were making their way back to the house, but all they found on the other side was Oswald glaring down at them. They innocently smiled at him, before slamming the door and heading toward the back one. Opening that, they found a zombie of sorts on the other side and it went to move forward. It got a door slammed in its face.

"That was the other demon!" Aaron shouted; he and Anya went to head for the stairs, to find somewhere safe to wait out, until John and Jezebel did get back. They get stopped by Oswald grabbing their clothing.

"You should really control yourself, when you gasp, kid." Odysseia now took over Oswald's body with her own form, "We heard you a mile off."

The two demons took the children away, leaving behind a mess. Soon enough, John and Jezebel came back. They happened to be a little too late in getting back, because by the time they did, Segenam and Odysseia had made off. The mess alerted them to a break in, and they immediately went in search of the kids around the house, in case they found somewhere safe to hide. They find no hide or hair of them. They do, however, find Charlie completely tied up, in a cupboard that she barely fit into.

John and Jezebel helped her back to her feet, untying the ropes and peeling back the duct tape. She explained to them how 'Oswald' suddenly leapt on her, telling her of how 'he' planned to trap the two occult detectives and send them to where John had sent 'him': Hell. She also told them of that he and another had taken the kids, but she didn't know where.

She sobbed to them. Telling them how she thought Oswald was the one for her and that she had found the 'one' this time. She cried the whole time John was attempting to get information from her. She did tell them a few useful tidbits. Including, Oswald talking on the phone to some people about a storage compartment in a warehouse. This gave the detectives a starting point to finding the kids.

"Belle, you know what I just bloody noticed?" John turned to her; he frowned.

"What?" Jezebel asked, as she had her arm around Charlie's shoulder at an attempt to comfort her.

"They took the bloody cab."

Charlie sniffled back more tears, "Y-you didn't take it, when you went to see your friend?"

"No. He came and picked us up earlier." Jezebel smiled sweetly at her; she suddenly leapt up, "Oh!"

"Want to explain what that was about? Sounded like you sat on something... with that little squeak." John laughed.

"Hilarious, John, but I remembered, Chas told me he put a tracker on the cab, in case you lost it or it got nicked. He uploaded it to my phone." Jezebel gave a sarcastic smirk to him as she took out her phone.

"What do you mean 'in case' I 'lost' it? I wouldn't do that! I... Chas is just paranoid..."

"Do you blame him with the 'friends' you have?" She smirked over her shoulder at him; he frowned at her, as he looked over her shoulder.

"Just see where it is."

"It is... heading toward..." Her brows furrowed, "That can't be right."

"What?" Both John and Charlie eagerly leaned toward her.

"They're heading toward Birchware..."

"That place's been abandoned for years..." John stepped in; his expression matched hers: complete puzzlement.

"I know... I was just thinking that... Maybe it is a trap?" Jezebel shook her head at the idea of leaving the poor kids, "Either way, though, we cannot abandon those kids."

"I wasn't going to say we do, luv; all I was going to say was: we need a plan first." John folded his arms.

About 100 yards North of Anya's house, the warehouse Jezebel had spoken of stood. It stood overshadowing everything in its path, including some of the other warehouses in that area; the only difference was that the other buildings looked a little more cared for than the warehouse in question. Only a little bit more. From the outside, it looked discarded. On the inside, it was a different story.

If someone were to enter the building, they would not have suspected that further through the warehouse, two minors were being held as pawns to lure the two exorcists the sin demons wanted, though to be more precise they wanted their revenge on John for him trapping them in Hell for as long as he did. The two sins took a child each in tying up to a chair, and then setting themselves aside to talk among themselves. Odysseia and Segenam attempted to make a plan on how to 'break' or 'destroy' at least one of the occult detectives in some cruel and unusual way.

Anya looked over at the two demons, tilting her head; she and Aaron had been made to be back to back on the chairs, so he was unable to see what they were up to at this point. She curiously watched them, thinking of a way to distract them, before asking, "Hey, you two; why do you always look so grumpy?"

When the two demons didn't look at her, she continued asking questions (getting Aaron to join in with her at some point), "Why do you look like that? Why does your hair stick like that? What is that on your face?"

The constant questioning going on behind her, started to irritate Odysseia; the wrath demon's temper was rising. Segenam found this rather amusing that a 10 and 15 year old were getting to his little sister. He also found it entertaining that the kids thought they could distract them from what they had planned.

Meanwhile, outside the entrance, John and Jezebel were arriving into the courtyard of where the warehouse was set. They were arriving via a lift, which made a brittle, crackling sound as it drove over the gravel paving. It parked in the middle of the courtyard, directly in front of the warehouse they intended on entering.

Looking over to the driver's side from the passenger's, at Charlie, John advised her, "Stay here, we may need to send the kids out to you, and deal with... the demons that have them after they're safe."

From the back seat behind him, Jezebel gazed at him; a smile pricked at the corner of her lips. If it wasn't such a life or death situation for the children at risk, she would have loved to tease him about going soft. For now, though, she wanted those kids safe. She and John exited the car, slamming the doors behind them.

John walked around to Charlie's window, "Go park the car somewhere safe, until we come out. Keep an eye out for us or the kids. These demons... they're rather tricky, so we'll need someone to alert us if they try anything, so beep the horn if something happens..."

Once Charlie nodded in understanding, the two occult detectives both sighed before entering the looming warehouse. As they progressed further through the building, the two of them were able to hear voices. It took a short while to pinpoint who the voices were, but they figured out that they were Aaron and Anya. From what they could tell, the adolescents were asking the sin demons completely random questions - this Jezebel knew was a tactic she had taught Anya, when she and John last visited her in case she ended up in a spot of bother.

"Are they...asking those demons.. why they..." John Paused every now and then, as he tried to hear what exactly was being said, without being too loud or getting too close; he whispered to Jezebel giving a rather bewildered expression, "'Why they smell like 'butts'?"

Listening carefully herself, Jezebel raised an eyebrow; she quietly giggled, responding, "Yes. They are."

"Well... that's a first." John gave a short laugh; the two advanced toward the kids and the two demons.

Upon reaching the kids, Odysseia and Segenam were nowhere to be seen; Jezebel ran toward Aaron and Anya, her motherly instincts taking over as she wanted to check if they were alright and not harmed in anyway. Disastrously, the two adolescents disappeared in a split second of her nearing them. Odysseia caused herself to materialize in front of them, using her powers. She laughed.

"You really thought it was going to be that easy?" Odysseia gloated, "John, you really should get brighter 'assistants'. You know, you can't put on a good magic show without a good one."

John glared at the wrath demon before him, "What do you want now, shrimpy?"

In return at the unwanted nickname, Odysseia glared back, "Do not call me that. I have told you before."

"Yeah, well, you insulted my partner and me, so I'm returning the favour." John shrugged, lighting a cigarette, "Bring the kids back, let them go, and I'll think about being nice when I send you and your brother back to Hell."

Odysseia gave a short laugh, smirking, "We shall see about that."

In advanced to them noticing, a maze made of steel divided the two occult detectives; the steel walls had a red tinge to them, indicating at the fact wrath was Odysseia's sin. The redness was from the anger she put into the maze, to create the trap. She was going to use all her anger to against John and Jezebel. This was her weapon of choice.

From within the maze, although separated, John and Jezebel were both able to hear Odysseia's tormenting laughter; they both pressed their hands against the wall, John shouting over to her, "Belle, listen to me: Odysseia most likely set this as a way to turn us against each other... and possibly to break us, so please, remember it's not real. Just focus on finding a way out of this thing."

"I know it's not real, John, but what about you? Don't you forget either." Jezebel called back.

"See you on the other side, luv." John called back, a little bit quieter than before, "And... good luck."

The two began to explore the maze they were trapped in. It was most definitely full of twists and turns, as the further the two went, the more they felt lost. First to face what Odysseia had in store was John. He cautiously rounded another corner, hand out ready and poised if he needed to use magic on anything. He turned it, only to find an opening. It seemed as if he had ended up outside for a moment, but when he looked up he saw he was still inside the warehouse.

"Hmm, nice trick." John shrugged.

" _They're not all tricks, demon hunter._ " A dainty voice, that John could have sworn was his imagination for a second, came from behind him, causing him to spin around; if it hadn't been for the physical being standing behind him, John would have just left it at that and carried on.

"And what do you mean by that?" He folded his arms, after lighting another cigarette; he took the cig in between two of his fingers, pointing them toward the entity, "You say not all, what exactly do you mean?"

" _Why, I mean your fears, of course. Your fears are what make these tricks real. Your fears, that will be the end of you, in_ _this_ _very maze._ " The being neared him, provoking John; it eyed the cigarette in his hand, " _You hide behind your trench coat and your cigarettes, but we know you John Constantine... You're afraid of your friends leaving...That's why you tell them to leave so early, isn't it?_ "

When John didn't respond, only his eyes shifting to the ground, the being stepped closer; it lifted his chin, " _See? It is true. You're afraid. Afraid they'll leave? Afraid they'll betray you in your time of need? Afraid that no matter what you do, you won't be able to save everyone from_ _your_ _mistakes?_ "

"Alright, I get it. I'm afraid." John's gaze now kept on the mocking being, and it was angry, "Yes, I'm afraid of being betrayed in the slightest. Being left in my time of need. But, that also doesn't mean I won't be able to stop as many as you sons of bitches, before anyone is injured. I'm sure as Hell not gonna let you twats take those kids."

When John lurched toward the entity, it disappeared. It soon returned behind him. It, too, lunged forward toward him, letting out an ear-piercing screech as it did. It pinned him down, making him unable to move any part of him. The being neared to his face, grinning sinisterly at him, " _Oh, Constantine, you keep hoping that you will save them... But you won't. You'll see. You know who else you won't be able to save?_ "

The entity's fingers grew claws to further pin him down; those claws dug deep into his skin, drawing blood from his wrists and ankles. It's muzzle leaned against one of his ears, " _That pretty little partner you have. You won't be able to save her, least of all from herself. We know a demon is inside that pretty little head of hers, she'll subside to it... She'll betray you... She'll_ _destroy_ _you, and you know it._ "

At the same moment, Jezebel was having some troubles of her own with 'voices' from nowhere. She came to a 'T' junction, looking both ways to see if either gave a clue to an exit. Neither did, so just randomly chose to go left. Nearing the end of the path, she swore she felt something breeze passed her.

" _Jezzy. You know for a fact that once he finds his way out, John's just gonna up and leave you, right?_ " A familiar seductive type voice came from beside her; Jezebel turned to see that it was indeed Jez that spoke to her, " _Of course you do. You_ _really_ _are afraid."_

"I don't know why you chose now of all times to appear, and start on me, Jez, but I would like to get those kids out of this situation... before those demons try anything." Jezebel frowned continuing on; the black/ redheaded Jez stepped in front of Jezebel, who raised an eyebrow at the sudden space invasion. She looked slightly down, to be eye-to-eye with Jez, "Move."

" _Nah. I rather like us spending this time together, you know._ "

"Of course you do," Jezebel gave a displeased frown.

" _You didn't let me finish, Jezzy._ " Jez smirked, " _As I was going to say, the time we have... it's nice... I mean I'm obviously the_ _only_ _one to tell the truth to you. You know for a fact that he_ _will_ _leave... Like all the others did... When you needed them the most. He's just like the others._ "

"No." Jezebel shook her head; she stepped up her pace, trying to avoid Jez.

" _Why deny the inevitable? You know it's true. He does it to everyone else. Why are you_ _any_ _different?_ "

Jezebel paused to think on the question, "I... I don't know.."

" _Exactly, dearie. Why should he bother with you at all?_ " Jez smirked, backing Jezebel to the nearest wall; she harshly took hold of Jezebel's arm, " _That's why you have such current marks on your arms, isn't it? Because deep down, you know._ "

Jez pulled back the sleeve to Jezebel's coat revealing the old and new self inflicted marks on her left arm. Feeling self conscious of herself, she pulled back her arm, and tried to hide it. Jez grinned, tightening her grip on her arm.

" _See, you do. You look so distressed at him seeing that_ _he_ _is the reason you do this. That you mark yourself._ "

"No, I do it because I deserve it. Because it's the only way I know that I can get rid of the thoughts... Of you commenting on every little thing I do." Jezebel interrupted; she grimaced, when Jez's grip tighter even more.

" _Is it really? Do you really do it to punish yourself or to rid of the slightest thought that John will do his usual disappearing trick on_ _you_ _, this time?"_ Jez's nails dug slightly into Jezebel's wrist, causing her to whimper and pull her arm back, " _I didn't think so._ "

From where she stood, Odysseia could see that John and Jezebel were going in opposite directions. She saw that Jezebel was the one to be panicking on not being able to get out the most. She knew this being because of her hatred of small spaces. From where she stood, she also saw that whatever their fears were, they put up a little fight with them, gaining some injuries here and there in the process.

Odysseia thought to herself on a small idea that she contemplated on for a short while. With a simple wave of her hand, she had the maze form a linking pathway between the two occult detectives. Continuing to use their fears against them, Odysseia forced the two of them to follow the route she had planned. This, in turn, caused the two of them to start running from what they were afraid of. As they neared the middle of their paths, the two demon hunters kept their gazes on behind them, failing to notice the other in front of them.

All that could be heard was a loud "oof" from the both of them as they had ended up colliding into one another. Sitting in his lap, Jezebel slowly looked up. She was quick to apologise. John, on the other hand, was still trying to catch his bearings. He rubbed his now sore head, as he tried to get his sight back from being dizzy.

What he had to say first was pretty simple, as his confusion was clear, "Belle?"

"John? That really you?"

"Yeah, it's me. Is that you?"

"Yeah." Jezebel looked to see she was still sitting in his lap, on the floor; she sprung up, holding her hand out to help him to his feet, "How did we end up back together? I was pretty sure we were heading in opposite directions."

"Yeah, well, that's Odysseia for ya." He took hold of her hand, allowing her to help him up, "Thanks, luv."

After a short moment of thought, he grinned, "I think I know how to stop her."

"A spell?"

"Good guess."

"Guess I know you too well, heh?" She awkwardly grinned.

He smirked back, "Yup. Plan is: we use this maze against her. Call her in. Theory is that no matter who is in the maze, their fears show nonetheless."

She nodded in agreement, "Sounds good."

From outside of the maze, Odysseia laughed to herself; she was able to hear everything within her creation, so heard of the plan that John had come up with. Segenam, along with the two kids, looked at her in curiosity.

"Want to say what's so funny?" Segenam asked his sister, annoyance clear in his voice.

"They really think that they can stop me, and get out of my maze." Odysseia chuckled, "Those two have no idea what's in store for them. I plan to make this maze an endless battle of fear for them. Whether they're together or not, it will break them."

"Yeah, and is there actually a fail safe?" Segenam raised an eyebrow.

"Why would we want that?"

"I don't know, cause Lucifer himself wants Constantine as his own personal plaything?" Segenam slowly shook his head, leaning back in his seat, "I don't know about you, but I don't wanna mess with him. He's lord of Hell for a reason, sis."

"Well, there is one way: I have to lose concentration of my revenge on that prick, on making them suffer." Odysseia shrugged, "But, we both know that won't happen."

On the chairs to the right of Segenam, Aaron tried to formulate a plan to get the two adults, Anya and himself out of the situation they were currently in. Hearing about the fail safe gave him hope yet. He remembered that some of the scale effect on his skin were actually scales, so that provided a way to untie him and Anya. The only problem he had now, getting a way to distract Odysseia from John and Jezebel.

Picking off one of the scales from his skin proved to be a little more painful than the movies showed it to be. Gritting his teeth, he yanked one out of his arm. He began sawing at the ropes between him and Anya with the one scale. Eventually it proved to work.

"Anya, I need you to do something." Aaron began whispering the plan he had in mind.

For a moment, Odysseia gazed over at where the children were meant to be; seeing them not there caused her to look back. She growled, kicking her sleeping brother off his chair, "Segenam!"

"What?" Segenam angrily looked up from the floor.

"You were supposed to be watching those brats!"

"They're..." Segenam looked over to the chairs, "..Gone..."

"I know that! Find them!"

Segenam slowly raised himself from the ground; rolling his eyes, he went out of the warehouse in search of Aaron and Anya. From his hiding place, Aaron emerged. His bug-scale skin allowed him to camouflage into the darker areas of the warehouse.

"Hey, wrath lady!" He shouted, trying to gain Odysseia's attention.

Growling again, she snapped, "What?!"

"What did John do to you, to make you hate him so much?" Aaron made a cautious step forward; it was unseen to anyone, but within the few minutes of not being caught by Odysseia and Segenam, he was able to receive an amulet that allowed him to draw the two demons out of their vessels..

"That tiny man, who thinks he can outwit everyone and avoid the consequences, trapped me and my siblings in the pits of Hell. In a dingy, small prison. The journey there wasn't all that fun either. He puts us there without even considering how we feel about it!"

Aaron frowned, "But, what about Jezzy? She's done nothing to you and yet you've trapped her too."

Odysseia smirked, "She's like him. She's a demon trapper.... Making her a bonus catch for me, someone else I can take my anger out on."

"Good to know," With the knowledge he had just obtained, Aaron lunged forward, pressing the amulet to her skin; he didn't need to say a spell or incantation, as the object did that for him.

Soon enough Odysseia was separated from her vessel, and Oswald had his body back. Albeit, he was now unconscious. Odysseia laid on the ground for a few minutes, looking knocked out herself. Her brother came dashing through after Anya ran back in. The small girl hid behind Aaron, who was ready to take action with the amulet. He unleashed Segenam from his vessel as well, causing the corpse to fall to the ground with Segenam following. Releasing the two demons from their vessels also caused the maze to disappear and the two occult detectives to approach the teenagers again.

John smiled, walking up to Aaron and ruffling his hair, "Brilliant thinking, kiddo. You did great."

"Aaron, that was amazing." Jezebel brought the boy into a hug, "Knew we could count on you."

"Hehe, thanks, Jezzy." Aaron looked between the two adults, "Couldn't have done it without Anya though."

"That's a good point, and good job to you too, kid." John turned to Anya, who innocently smiled; he then frowned, turning to the two demons, "Now, question is... do we leave these two for Lu to find, which will most likely happen, or do we send them back to Hell ourselves?"

Before a reply was even suggested, a fiery portal formed in the middle of the floor. Out of it, small imp demons crawled out, stalking toward the two sin demons. Odysseia and Segenam were slowly waking up, when they saw the impish demons coming toward them. They started to panic and back away. They were Lucifer's minions coming to take them back to where they belonged: Hell. The smaller demons dragged the sin demons into the portal, one staying behind to taunt John.

It turned to face him, looking up at him; from what he guessed, John saw that the demon smirked at him, "Just remember, we'll be coming to collect you too, one day, Constantine. The overlord owns your soul."

"He only owns part of it, you moron." John raised an eyebrow, lighting a cigarette, "Now, piss off back your master."

With that said, the last impish demon left, closing the portal behind it. He turned back to Jezebel and the kids, to see that Anya had a look of astonishment on her face. He gave a light chuckle at this, thinking it was most likely due to her not being used to experiencing demons and the like.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and started leading her to her mum's car, "C'mon, sweetheart, let's get you two home."

Blinking back the shock, Anya smiled up at him, "You're still gonna stay?"

"Of course, we were coming up to visit anyway, remember?" Jezebel added, her own arm around Aaron's shoulders, with a grin.

"Yay!" The two kids cheered; after grabbing Chas' cab, John and Jezebel took the kids to celebrate, while Anya's mum went back home.

In the meantime of the other four celebrating, Charlie and Oswald had to chat. The spell the two sin demons had on her and Oswald had faded, and in the process, their feelings for one another. Oswald's usual self, pushy and flirty, was back. On the journey to Gotham to drop him off, She tried to talk with him to work their relationship out between them, but he kept stepping in with comments – impropriate ones at that too -, so she just told him that it wasn't meant to be. That he should just in Gotham without her.

He shrugged, "Heh, well, you know where to find me, sweet cheeks."

His wink caused her to cringe; quietly she demanded, "Just get out."

Again, he shrugged and got out; he had texted his men to come meet him for a lift to his hideout. They eagerly greeted him with open arms, "Boss! Where've you been?!"

"Knew I could count on you, lads, and I was away. Nothing important." He laughed, leading his men away.

That last comment. About her not being important. It broke Charlie's heart completely; she was willing to put aside the fact he was a huge crime-boss, and one from Gotham nonetheless. Even how he looked to other people, because she found him adorable with his looks. But, it was how he treated her. She did have some aspect of control over herself, and she liked how he treated her with the demon possessing him. She knew it was but a trick that Odysseia played on her, her child and their friends, but some part of it felt real to her.

She looked over the bridge going into Gotham, where she had stopped, and looked out at the looming city around her. She sighed to herself, thinking of what she should do now. The one thing off topic that she did think on, the night sky. It was beautiful here. So many stars in one place.

Her thoughts of being unhappy in the city she lifted currently came back to her. New ones of possibly moving here, to Gotham appeared. She also thought on how she had previously treated Anya, and maybe ending up that person again. How her daughter would be better off with their neighbours. These thoughts tumbled around in her mind for a couple of hours, before she decided to head back to her home.

As she entered the house, she noted John and Jezebel weren't back with the kids. She continued to think of how much better she would be in Gotham and her daughter would be without her. She felt pretty much out of control of her body, as she wrote a note to John and Jezebel about what should happen with Anya while she was gone. Of why she was gone, it merely stated that she needed to find herself. She didn't state where. The last thing she wrote: 'And Anya, please remember, sweetheart, that I love you. I always will. I'm truly sorry for how I treated you. Love mummy', before she packed her belongings into bags, and then into the car. She left, glancing back only once, after locking up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Anya and her mother last appeared in Chapter 38: C'mon and Smile.
> 
> Names of the 7 Deadly Sins:
> 
> Envy - Livia
> 
> Lust - Ceri
> 
> Pride - Sumayah
> 
> Gluttony - Beelzebub
> 
> Greed - Elodie
> 
> Sloth - Seganam
> 
> Wrath - Odysseia


	48. Bill Bother

Exiting the shower, John grabbed the warm towels off the radiator; he wrapped the larger one around his lower half. He then began rubbing his hair down, walking into the bedroom. He picked up a shirt flung on the bed pre-shower and sniffed it.

"Err," He groaned, throwing it back down, and began looking around; he came across the grey sweater he was given for his birthday once by Jezebel, shrugging and picking it up, "Why not."

He grabbed a pair of boxers and pants, shoving them on after drying himself. He pulled the sweater over his head, ruffling his hair. He picked up the dirty shirts and pants dotted around his bedroom, intending on putting them in the wash basket (but not remembering to wash them). He chucked them in, slamming the lid of the basket shut. He trudged down to the living area, and threw himself onto the couch.

John picked the box of cigarettes up off the coffee table in front of him, and lighting it with his trusty lighter; he leaned back with the aim of relaxing, only to be interrupted by the noise of loud, rapid knocks at the door causing him to let out a sigh, "I guess whoever that is doesn't want me to relax."

Dragging himself to the door, he answered the person - or rather people - knocking, "Yeah?"

He was greeted to the faces of Arabella and Dipper - Jezebel's intern and her friend -; the young female adult gazed up at him with huge puppy-dog eyes, while the boy had a large journal clutched in his arms. They were, however, distracted for a few minutes, when he answered them.  

"Aw, are you wearing the sweater Jezzy got you once?" Arabella asked, a large grin on her face, "So cute!"

John didn't think the girl's eyes were able to get any bigger, but the hopeful look in them proved him wrong; he mumbled, "Yes."

"It might just be me, but I do believe he's blushing a bit, Ari." Dipper stepped in, laughing quietly. 

"It was the only thing I had to wear... All my shirts are in the wash... and I just got outta the shower." John mumbled defensively, before giving a questionable look to the teenagers stood before him, "What are you two doing here anyway? Belle not tell you she's away this week?"

"She did." Arabella nodded, "But, we're actually here for you."

"Me?" John raised an eyebrow, taking his cigarette between his fingers; he tapped the excess ash off, "What you wanting me for?"

"We need your help." Arabella replied.

Dipper added on, "With a demon."

"I assume, with that tone, you've come across this demon before?" John asked, stepping down from the porch of the lodge to be a bit more level with the teenagers.

"You could say that..." Dipper bit his bottom lip.

"It's a dreamscape demon, known as Bill Cipher." Arabella added on.

"I do believe I've been told of him... A few stories here and there. Formed the opinion of him that he's annoying as Hell." John chucked the finished cigarette to the ground, before taking out another and lighting that one.

"Your opinion of him is correct." Arabella added, irritation in her voice.

"Yeah," Dipper added on, annoyance in his voice, "We know from experience... Maybe too much." 

"This the demon bothering you, then?" John raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Both kids answered.

"Well, you kids go home; I'll get it sorted." John turned on his heel, heading back inside.

"No, we're gonna stay with you and make sure Bill doesn't cause too much trouble for you." Arabella stepped up behind him, making sure he wasn't able to close the door on her and Dipper.

"Arabella, go home." He frowned, turning back to the two of them, "I'm sure I can handle a dream demon."

"He might not listen to you and you don't know how to summon him." Arabella added, "Plus, I doubt he leaves Gravity Falls."

John heavily sighed, "You're not gonna listen to me, are you?"

"Nope." She simply smiled.

"Stay here, or come in. I don't care. I've gotta pack some stuff to help, so don't touch anything." He trudged into the lodge, the teenagers following in pursuit; under his breath he added, "Gods, Belle must be rubbing off on that girl more than we thought. She's getting as stubborn as her."

After a few minutes of him rummaging through various supernatural artifacts and having changed into another - assumed clean - shirt, John eventually returned with a small bag to see the two adolescents seated on the couch - looking rather bored -. Arabella was the first to stand as he approached. She eagerly pulled Dipper to his feet, giving a 'I'm ready' expression. Leading the way out of the lodge, John trudged with the two kids pursuing not far behind him.

"I hope you kids know I was hoping to have the weekend to myself, not deal with something as simple as a dream demon."

"You still think he'll be that easy to get rid of?" Arabella asked, just about keeping pace with John as he led them through the forest beside the lodge; Dipper, however, wasn't doing as good and was falling behind the two of them, "We've been trying to get rid of him for years... It's just now that we've found he's gotten more annoying."

"You've been trying for years?" He slowed his pace, slightly, as he looked at the young girl with a hint of disappointment in his face; he continued walking at a faster pace, "And you're meant to be Belle's prodige."

Arabella gave a loud squeak, one sure to have hurt a dog's ears, "You really think that?!"

"Well, it was something Jezebel said... Not so much me." He answered, eyes focused on where he was going.

"Oh..." She flatly responded.

"Mr Constantine, if you don't mind me saying... Shouldn't we be heading the other way? For the bus stop or at least toward a car?" Dipper stepped up, finally keeping pace with John and Arabella.

"Kid," John paused; the two teenagers were able to see he had stopped in a small clearing, where a circle of rocks were laid out in front of them, "There is a reason I brought you two here, ya know?"

"There is?" The two of them looked at him with confusion.

John sighed, "It's not something I  _like_  doing, but I thought teleporting would be a lot easier... Pluuss not so keen on public transport. Not the best place for me."

"You can teleport?" Arabella asked, curious, "Jezebel never mentioned you could do that."

"Yeah, not something I share much... Only the odd few people know.. She's one of them, but prefer her to keep it to herself." He stopped and blinked; he turned to the two children, "Wait, she talks about me?"

"Yeah, like, all the time." Arabella added with a large grin, "And it's  _all_  good stuff too."

"Oh, well, that's good to know..." John was able to feel the slight blush creeping onto his cheeks, so he quickly turned his back on Arabella and Dipper; he rolled his sleeves up, holding out his arms, "On with the show then?"

With his hands out in front of him, ring and pinky fingers bent on each hand, he began chanting:

"Via temporis, iam ciamo ad te via spatti  
Te ubio, aperire... Aperi!   
Via concurssus, tempos Spatium admi ut imperio!"

The sound of thunder clapped, before the portal formed between the circle of rocks. It first appeared orange in colour, before changing to a midnight purple to indicate it was ready for use. John nodded with a small smile, turning to Arabella and Dipper.

"Now, for this to work, you need a clear image of where you want to go... So that being Gravity Falls I'm guessing." He instructed, "Any specific place?"

"Well, The Mystery Shack is a good place to start." Dipper stepped up, "So, there?"

"Good." He nodded, "Think of it when you go through. You ready?"

Arabella nodded; Dipper looked a little anxious, but he slowly nodded along too.

"Great." He grabbed their arms, yanking them close to him and stepping toward the portal, stopping just before it, "Oh, one last thing: don't lose concentration. It might send you some place completely... different."

"W-what?" Dipper breathlessly asked.

"It's fine. I just had the experience once or twice.. It just sends you to a different dimension, but it's completely fine... if you know how to get back..." John gave a short laugh.

"So, we won't know at all?!" Dipper added, again, nervously.

"Hey, c'mon. It won't be too bad." John smirked, "You want this demon sorting, right?"

"I think I'd rather take the bus now." Dipper began to shrink away from the portal, about to turn.

"C'mon, Dipper, please; it'll be fun!" Arabella added; she took hold of his arm, "Please!"

Dipper bit his lip; he sighed, giving in and turning back to the portal, "Fine."

"Good kid." John smiled, "Now, just keep the idea of getting to The Mystery Shack in mind, and you're there."

John led the 3 of them into the portal, and with a flash, they were standing outside the mystery shack. It had gotten slightly lighter considering where they last were. Dipper was a little shaken up from the portal travelling, while Arabella was ecstatic.

"That was awesome!" Arabella cheered, "Can you teach me to do that, John? Please!"

"Maybe when you know a few more spells, I might. It's one of those spells that tires the user out." John was looking around at his surroundings, considering he hardly came to Gravity Falls unless he was with Jezebel (and most of those times he was waiting in the car); he stopped when his gaze landed back on the kids, "So this demon, what can you tell me about him?"

"Maybe we should go inside." Dipper suggested; he had calmed down with his shakiness.

"Yeah, think it would be a good idea. Lead the way, kid." John gave a hand gesture hinting at the Mystery Shack's door, causing it to open; he began lighting a cigarette, until he was drenched with water.

John swiveled to see what had caused him to have gotten wet so suddenly. Behind him was Dipper's twin sister, Mabel. She was grinning and holding a bucket.

"No smoking." She smiled, hiding the bucket, even as he glared at her; she innocently rocked back and forth on her feet, "Grunkle Ford says so."

Following Arabella, the group entered the shack. John, grumbling as he did, attempted to squeeze the water out of his coat. When they were inside, they were greeted to an older-looking man in a suit. It was Grunkle Stan - the main owner of the Mystery Shack attraction - and he looked to be counting some cash. John stood over him as Dipper and Mabel joined their grunkle at the table. Meanwhile, Arabella routed through a couple of cupboards, before coming back over to them. She had a packet of gum in her hand.

"Here, John; these should help for a while." She handed the packet to John, who raised an eyebrow at her, "At least until Grunkle Ford goes out or... more likely, doesn't know."

"Thanks..." John frowned as he took it. He opened one, and put the rest of the packet in the pocket of his pants; he joined the twins at the table, seating himself between Dipper and Arabella.

Dipper placed the journal he had been carrying around onto the table between him and John, "This is Journal 3, and it basically gives the warning about not to summon Bill. Mostly because he manipulates a lot of his victims into doing deals - one problem I, myself, came across."

"Yeah, made him a sock puppet." Mabel laughed, causing John to questionably raise an eyebrow at her.

"Long story." Dipper strunk away, before adding on, "I think Grunkle Ford has more information in the 2nd Journal, if you think that could help."

"Yeah, need as much as I get." John answered, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms.

"I'll go get it." Arabella hopped off the seat, and headed toward the basement laboratory.

It took a short while, before Stan looked over at John and finally put his money down; he asked, "Heard you're quite the conman... That you managed to outsmart even Batman, right?"

"Yeah you could say that. He didn't see it coming, thought he would. He didn't. It was actually something involving my partner, Jezebel, he lost to. I bet him that she would be able to beat him against a monster - which technically she would know more on due to being a monster hunter." John smirked; he thought on the event, a blush quickly taking over his face at a sudden memory, "Though, she also proved it against me too... with an arm wrestle."

"Jezebel someone you like very much then?" Stan asked, raising a bushy eyebrow and a small smirk on the corner of his lips.

"You must be John Constantine?" An elderly voice came from beside John, making him feel thankful the conversation had moved on; it was Grunkle Ford standing with Arabella.

"Yeah, Ford Pines I'm guessing?" John held out his hand.

"Correct," Ford took John's hand in his own and shook it; he seated himself on the single chair as Arabella was given the seat next to John, "You must be here about Cipher and how he's bothering my niece, nephew and their friend."

"Well, actually Grunkle Ford, Arabella and I are... actually together." Dipper stepped in, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

Frowning at the 18 year olds not mentioning this before, Ford just looked directly at John, "I believe I can help a bit with that. The books only give limited amount of information about... him. I've actually encountered him before, so can possibly provide a bit more."

"Alright." John gave a short nod, waiting for a continuation from the older man.

"I'll be watching TV, while you kids and nerds talk demons and stuff." Stan frowned, pocketing the money he 'earned' and headed toward the living room.

Both John and Ford's gazes followed Stan with a furious frown each; they also both quickly shook the comment off to focus on the task at hand. Getting rid of Bill Cipher. Ford paused before he continued, scanning the kids beside him and John. He raised an eyebrow at them.

"Kids, would you mind leaving us to chat for a couple of minutes?" Ford requested; Dipper and Mabel both followed his orders and jumped down off the seat. Arabella however stayed put, folding her arms, "Arabella."

"I wanna help. You know both me and the twins are more than capable in this situation, so why send us away?" She glanced up at the older man, pouting; she noticed the twins had paused curiously in the doorway.

"There are somethings I don't particularly like sharing about Bill, especially around you kids." Ford explained.

"I still want to help."

"And you will." John stepped in, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, "Just give us a few; okay, Ella?"

Though still pouting and with her arms folded, Arabella jumped down from the seat, joining the Pine twins in the front room, "Fine."

"You're pretty good with kids, you know. I can't even get her to move when she's got her mind set on something." Ford gave a small smile to John, who let out a light laugh.

"Jezebel's better with her," He smiled, "But, I wouldn't go as far as saying I'm good with kids."

"Well, call it what you will, I still think you're good at it."

Over the next half an hour, the two men discuss stories about Bill Cipher and the previous ways proven to stop him for at least a short amount of time. Ford showing John the journals that featured him, including the 2nd journal showing how to summon him. He advised John on Bill's weaknesses and told him of what to avoid with the demon - his strengths so to speak. He also gave the advice Bill liked to play tricks and often used riddles in his deals he tricked the summoner into doing. John's response to this was not so much a pleased one, claiming he hated riddles.

"I'm assuming you want to know how to summon the annoying creature in order to defeat him?" He asked.

"That would helpful, yes." John slightly nodded, leaning onto the table.

Ford pushed the 2nd journal forward, "This should have the details in it to help you with that. I do warn you though, again, he's a tricky demon."

"Right." John gave a disinterested head nod, as he began looking at the journal entry on Bill Cipher.

Ford left the occult detective to his own devices; the Pines twins and Arabella snuck back in, seating themselves next to John again. He did acknowledge them being there by ever so slightly raising his eyes from the book. He gave a small smile, seeing Arabella had already started taking notes on the items he was possibly going to need. He noted that when concentrating, Arabella stuck her tongue out.

"Oh, John, one thing I forgot to mention, Bill's physical form is petrified, so his only form of power is through the mindscape... Not exactly what you want to hear, I guess, but it's something to help with summoning him." Dipper leaned over Arabella, leaning his hands on the table.

"Well, it helps a bit..." John sighed, "Know where it is?"

Dipper nodded, "Just a bit West from here."

"Great, rummaging through the forest. Just how I wanted to spend the weekend." John grumbled to himself, standing from the seat and taking the journal in hand.

"We can show you if you want?" Mabel added excitedly; she, Dipper and Arabella stood also.

"Ah... well, got some things to get before I do."

"I can get them and meet you guys there?" Dipper interrupted.

John heavily sighed, "Alright. You know what you're getting?"

"I made a list." Arabella proudly stated, giving him the list; he took it in his hand, looking it over.

"She pretty much covered it with this. Have fun finding them." John handed the note to Dipper, who quickly ran off; he turned to the two girls, "Ready, ladies?"

Mabel startled John when she immediately linked arms with him, "I am."

His reaction caused Arabella to let out a little giggle, "Mabel, maybe give him some space."

"Umm, she's fine..." John sounded unsure himself, but he gave them a quick smile just to be polite, "I'd rather get this done, than mess about."

"C'mon then!" Mabel cheered, dragging John with her causing Arabella to jog after them.

"Mabel, slow down!" Arabella took hold of Mabel's hand, pulling her.

The long walk to Bill's petrified form was shortened more than expected thanks to Mabel's constant antics. Not that John minded, it meant he was able to get home quicker, once finishing the job. He did, however, mind Mabel flirting with him. He was able to tell she was being playful with him, but it still felt odd to him that an 18 year old was hitting on him. Whenever she did, he gave a light laugh or a head nod as to not be rude. They soon happened upon the statue.

"Heh, creepy." John examined the stone; he went to take hold of Bill's hand.

"Wait!" Arabella shouted, pulling John back.

Alarmed, he looked back at her with widened eyes, "What?!"

"We don't know what will happen if we shake his hand... That's one of the ways he's able to get around... Through the deals he makes..."

"I doubt he'd be able to do anything with this form, kiddo." He smirked with a raised eyebrow; he edged closer, causing Mabel to huddle next to Arabella to await what might happen. He took hold of the statue's hand, and shook, "See, nothing happened."

John turned around to see the girls had disappeared. He frowned in confusion, he could have sworn they were right there. He looked back at the statue. That was gone as well. He continued to look around, seeing it seemed more grey-scaled than before. His gaze landed on the moon.

"That's... odd." He stopped to see a giant eye on the moon; John shrugged, getting out his cigarettes and lighting one. A triangle transitioned piece by piece on to the moon, around the eye, "That's even odder."

"You better believe it, hot stuff." A high-pitched voice sounded from around John, who spun to take a look at his surroundings for danger.

John stopped, when he noticed a small yellow triangle floating beside him; it opened an eye, seeming all too happy, his tone of voice flirty, "Why hello there."

  
John continued to smoke; he had a disinterested expression upon his face, "You need to leave those kids and their family alone, mate."   
  
The triangle floated closer to John's face, stroking a hand down the man's face; Bill's tone continued to stay flirty, "Hmm, you must be John Constantine. I've heard  _lots_ about you..."   
  
"Yeah? And I've heard lots about you, Bill Cipher. Now, leave them alone."   
  
"You know, I've heard you like to make deals... Especially with the demon kind."   
  
"Yeah, then you must've also heard I'm a bit of a con-man too." John growled under his breath, feeling frustrated with the dream demon.   
  
Bill hovered closer to John, if that was even possibly, "My kinda man ~"   
  
John leaned away, feeling a bit taken back, but just raised his eyebrows; he kept his focus on his task, "Well, are ya gonna leave 'em alone or do I have to get serious?"   
  
Bill pretended to think about it for a few seconds, "That all depends..."   
  
John let out a heavy sigh, with annoyance clear on his face, "On what?"   
  
"You do something for me in return, and we'll call it a deal." The grin the demon had given John caused him to think he had something more up his sleeves than just a deal, and was what made John so cautious of Bill - he knew the look all to well, he had pulled it himself on more than one occasion.

"What do you have in mind?" John folded his arms, ignoring the fact Bill had his hand out awaiting for it to be shook; he only moved a hand to tap off any excess ash from his cigarette.

The beaming expression on Bill's face was one John didn't especially feel too pleased about seeing; he did know it meant something bad and the dream demon was about to trick him, "Let's say you get me a certain potion.... You'd need to put it together, obviously, and find the ingredients, but once that's done, I'll do as you ask."

"So, you're basically pulling the wool over my eyes?" He raised an eyebrow at the floating triangle beside his head; he pointed at Bill, "You should know, I've done it plenty times before to others that I know when I'm being tricked. What you really planning, demon?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Bill laughed, holding his hands up in defense.

"See, I don't believe you and I just want to get this over with, so if you bugger me up...." A serious expression took over John's features; he grabbed hold of the demon's bow-tie and pulled him close to his face, a scary-like grin on his face, "I'll make sure you spend every waking minute as Lucifer's personal maid. Capché?"

In a way that resembled pouting, Bill sulked, "Alright, Mr Killjoy. Do we have a deal?"

Bill held out his hand, lighting it in a yellow flame; John released a heavy sigh, one might do when annoyed and want to get something over with, "Fine." He shook Bill's hand causing it and his own to be engulfed by a light blue flame, something that often showed a deal had been struck with the dream demon.

The moment the handshake had occurred, a bright light overtook John's view. This, in turn, caused him to sneeze. Opening his eyes, the surrounding area had all the colour back. He was back to reality. He turned to see Arabella and Dipper were staring at him with a startled expression on their faces. He raised an eyebrow, a small smirk on his face.

"What's got you kiddies in a twist?" He smirked seeing a blush creeping on both their cheeks as they were tightly embraced with one another and Mabel was gone, "Been sneaking about, 'ave you?"

"What?! No!" The two responded quickly, defensively.

"You were... stood still for a while... We were starting to worry.." Arabella added on, trying to change the subject.

"Hmm, it's probably part of the dreamscape." John stood up, seeing as his knees had buckled from underneath him as soon as he returned to reality from being still for so long, "C'mon then, let's get you two back. This way right?"

"John?" Arabella took hold of his arm.

"Yeah, sweetheart?" He lowered his gaze to look at the girl, who looked so worried.

"You sorted Bill out, didn't you?" She asked, "You didn't make a deal with him, did you?"

"Don't worry about it. He's sorted. Won't be bothering you lot again..." John smiled, turning back on his heel and picking his pace up; Arabella's gaze followed John, worry on her face.

"Dipdop, you don't suppose..." She began, linking arms with Dipper.

"Nah... He's Constantine... He knows better than us... I'm sure he found another way to defeat Bill. That's why he's so great." Dipper mused, smiling at Arabella.

John had been listening, having slowed his pace enough to stay behind, but not be seen; he frowned, a little ashamed with himself, and whispered, "I'm not as great as you think, kid."

He put on his best smile, and pretended to jog back to the two teenage lovebirds, "Hey, you two mind, if I go on ahead? Would like to get back to Atlanta, before Belle gets back... You know actually get in some relaxation time."

Arabella and Dipper looked between one another, unsure to why he would ask to do so; they turned back to him and nodded nonetheless. He smiled, thanked them and went on his way. Upon arriving back at the lodge, John intended on reclining on the couch, bottle of whiskey in one hand, cigarette in the other. Though he had soon fallen asleep, John found it rather hard to do so. This being, his dreams received an unwanted visitor.

"Well, well," The voice of Bill ran through his mind, "Looks like someone's slacking... I don't like it when people go back on their deal, Johnny lad."

John cringed, hearing his childhood nickname; he tilted his head onto the back of the couch, "Don't call me that... And I deserve this... Been on me feet all week long. At least deserve a few minutes to myself."

"Oh, would you prefer me call you  _killer_ , like your old man did?" Bill gave a grinning expression, seeing the slight tang of pain in John's brown eyes, "Aw, that one hurt a bit too much? I prefer Johnny Lad anyway. Gotta bit of a spring to it."

"You're a being of chaos, I get that." John remarked, alarmingly calm; he grabbed hold of the demon's bowtie once again, pulling him close. He gave a rather serious expression, one that terrified those who didn't know John all too well (and maybe even those who do), "But, you listen to me, I'll send you back to the place you came from. The place you detest the most."

"You wouldn't?" Bill gave a daring tone.

"Oh, I would. Heard you described it as 'flat minds in a flat world with flat dreams.' Right? Hmm, wouldn't it drive you crazy if you had to endure that, day in day out with no choice whatsoever? Bored from the constant bleakness of it all."

"You're a sinister man, John Constantine." Bill generally looked terrified; until a look of mischief overtook him.

There was a moment of silence, allowing John to wake himself up. He shook his head, heading toward the kitchen to grab his extra bottle of booze, feeling like he needed it. He stopped midway, tilting his head. A confused expression overtook his features. He felt his grip on the glass he held loosening. He ran to the bathroom, leaning over the sink. He had placed the glass on the sink basin. Lucky he had because what he saw next shook him.

John looked up, seeing his face had turned a shade of yellow in the mirror; it caused him to back away from the sink, almost tripping over the bath mat and into the bath, "The Hell?!"

A murmur came up from his throat, "Herrree's Johnny!"

He frowned, brows furrowing; he felt something rising in his chest. He was pretty sure it was... laughter? He let out a huge, bellowing laugh. It almost scared him silly.

"Nope.. No. Not happening." He shook his head, keeping it down; he looked up for a split second and caught his pupils were now a slit shape.

"Believe it, Johnny lad." He heard Bill say; he managed to push John out of his body, having his soul of sorts hovering beside his now limp body, allowing Bill to take it over, "Cause it's happening!"

"Get out of my fucking body, you creepy Dorito!" John yelled; he took a swing at the demon possessing his body, missing.

"Ha, you gotta do better than that."

John paused, before a grin came over his features, "Oh, I'll do just that."

"How so?" Bill grinned.

"You don't realise it, but I keep demon traps all over the place.. Including on myself." He smirked, "Meaning you just backfired on yourself."

John began chanting an incantation in order to get Bill out, though the demon triangle screamed for him not to. Continuing to bargain with the occult detective. He managed to get Bill out of his body, extracting him to keep him in a jar. From where he stood, Bill looked like one of the keychains people were able to get from the dollar store. The thought caused John to chuckle, holding the jar up close to his face.

"Guess you learned from that one, huh?" He smirked, "Don't fuck with an exorcist."

Bill mumbled as John placed the glass jar on the top shelf near the rest of his artefacts; unfortunately he hadn't seen he left it on the edge. Leaving it balancing. John laughed as he kicked his feet up, hopefully for the last time that evening. He was glad he was finally able to relax.

Or was he? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not completely dismissing the finale to Gravity Falls; I am revolving this chapter around what the Cipher Hunt possibly hinted at where Bill is alive and has come back, but with the soul purpose of bothering Mabel and Dipper, and causing mischief (kind of like Discord reformed). Also the portal spell used in this chapter is actually featured in Buffy: The Vampire Slayer ^^ There's also a few other references in there, but I'll leave that for you guys to figure out (clue: slight reference to Geralt in the Witcher series):3


	49. The Waiting Game

"Jezebel, please; you've got to eat something." Chas gave a concerned expression, entering John's hospital room; he had just been told by one of the nurses Jezebel refused to leave the room or even eat anything until John woke up, "Staying like this. It's not good for either of you."

She sniffled, and then spoke up, "But, I want to be there, Chas. I want to be there when he wakes up. It's my fault he's in this mess."   
  
She lowered herself back down, her head laying on the bedside being careful of John; she sniffled again, "I shouldn't have gone. I shouldn't have followed that thing. I should have listened to him."   
  
Chas strolled over to his best friend who laid unconscious in the hospital bed with a major head injury (along with a few other injuries including broken ribs), and put a hand on Jezebel's shoulder. He pulled her into a hug, especially when she had looked up at him. She had given him such a solemn expression, he knew how much she was hurting.

He sighed, "Jezebel, John gets himself into trouble like this pretty much everyday, you must know that by now. None of this is your fault. He... He has a habit of not listening himself. He was the one to set that monster off, not you. You actually tried to make peace with it."   
  
"But, Chas, he wouldn't have had to, if I listened and didn't go by myself or at all. He saw it was about to lunge and I was foolish enough to believe I could get through to it." She buried her face into Chas' shirt; she tear stained it.  
  
"That may be true in some aspects, Jezebel, but again, you couldn't have known what would happen... Neither of you could." He tightly hugged her; his gaze landed on his friend, and seeing him there, not giving a witty comeback to any of this, was disturbing to say the least. It didn't feel right. Chas brought Jezebel out of the hug slightly to look her in the eyes, "Shall we just be grateful he's still alive?"   
  
She managed to give him a small smile, and nodded, "That is a good point."

"Can I at least bring you something to eat?" Chas gave a sweet smile back at her, as they parted from the hug, "Not even a sandwich?"   
  


"Umm, could you get a packet of Doritos?" She softly spoke, going back to her position beside John.   
  
"Of course," He gave a few short nods, "The cheese ones, right?"   
  
"Yeah, them." She nodded as he exited the room.   
  
"Be back in a few minutes then."

Jezebel sighed, being alone again in the room; she glanced over at John. She laid her head next to his arm, placing her own hand over his, "I'm really sorry I did this to you, John. I really am."   
  
She shoved her face into the duvet cover, muffling her cries. She wasn't able to hold back, feeling it was entirely her fault. That she was to blame. She lifted her head slightly, turning away from him; she had now moved her hand away from John's to cover her face.

At this moment, John was silently stirring; he was in pain, so struggled to move even the slightest bit. He tilted his head slightly toward Jezebel, causing him to frown when he saw her. He slowly moved his hand to her, giving quiet groans as he did.   
  
"L-luv...?" His voice was hoarse.  
  
She gasped, lifting her head; he was able to see she had been crying. She had a shocked expression on her face. He attempted a small grin, "You're not crying over me; are you, darlin?"   
  
It took her awhile to see he was awake, and partly sitting up despite the pain he was in; she blinked, sniffling back the rest of her tears, "J-John? You're awake?"

"I think I am." He smirked as best as he was could; he frowned again, "But, that didn't answer my question. Was you crying just now?"   
  
She shamefully lowered her head; she avoided eye contact as she nodded. She went to go bury her head in the covers, afraid she was going to cry again. But, she was stopped by John. He painfully leaned forward, holding her shoulders.   
  
"C'mere." He attempted to pull her up onto the bed with him; she saw how much stress it was putting on his wounds, so got up herself. He had her face him, as she sat directly across from him, "Now, luv, you gonna tell me or am I gonna have to force it out?"   
  
"Why am I so stupid, John?" She blurted out.   
  
"Well, not what I meant, but alright..." He was about to continue, when she interrupted him.   
  
"It's my fault you ended up with that huge wound in your head, the broken ribs and everything else... I... I should have listened to you."   
  
"That would explain why I'm hurting so much... Heh..." He clenched his eyes shut when a particularly sharp pain ran up his side; he looked her in the eyes, "That... what happened, Belle; we're both to blame, not just you. I... I couldn't keep you from going. I couldn't keep it from lunging at you. I should have also kept my big mouth shut, but I didn't."   
  
"But, you told me of how dangerous that monster was! You told me not to go alone. But, I did... I ignored your warnings... I was stupid... I am stupid."  
  
"Stop it." He frowned, putting his hands on her shoulders although it hurt that slight bit, "Jezebel, stop calling yourself that. You are far from it. You at least tried to reason with that piece of shit... before things went up shit creek."  
  
A moment's silence passed, before she looked back at him with watery eyes, "Seeing you, lying there and not moving... John, it scared me... I... I thought I lost you... I thought..."  
  
He quickly pulled her into a hug, "Sssh-ssh, I'm fine now, aren't I?"   
  
The two of them stayed embraced for a couple of minutes, unaware Chas had been listening from outside the room. He smiled, knowing it was more beneficial John had told Jezebel about it not entirely being her fault. He let a couple of more minutes pass, before he entered the room. He smiled at John, who had his head on her shoulder.   
  
"Hey, Chas." He quietly greeted his mate, "Great to see ya."  
  
"Hmm, likewise." Chas gave a small smile, "Though, better circumstances would have been ideal."

"Ah Mr Constantine, good to see you're awake." John's doctor strolled in, clipboard in hand; he was a rather good looking one, especially with how his brunette hair easily fell on one side of his face, "You're rather lucky to live from such injuries."

"Heh, don't I know," John mumbled under his breath, "So would I be able to go soon?"

"Not to disappoint you, but you should really stay in the hospital for a few days. Just so we can keep an eye on you."

"Bollocks." John flopped back against the pillow, forgetting momentarily about his injuries; his eyes shut tightly and teeth clench, "Fuck!"

"And take it easy; we don't want to stress the wounds more than they already are." The doctor warned; he paused with a hint of curiosity, "If you don't mind me asking, how did you end up with such brutal injuries, Mr Constantine?"

The 3 of them watch as the doctor folded his arms, tilting his head slightly. John raised an eyebrow, "You really wanna know?"

"Yes, it's very rare these kind of injuries are received from... what did you say, Mr Chandler... Going on a nature run?"

"Hehh, yeah." Chas rubbed the back of his neck, an awkward grin on his face.

Jezebel leaned closer to John, whispering, "I told him to tell the doctor it was done while working, but he wouldn't go for it."   
  
"Like I'd do any kind of running, unless necessary." John laughed.

Jezebel laughed too, "That's what I said!"

"So how did your injuries come to be?" The young doctor stood at the end of John's bed; he flipped through the clipboard he held.

"Ah, well, it's kinda complicated," John gave a light laugh, rubbing the back of his neck, "But, I guess for you to entirely believe it, you have to be there. But, if you really wanna know... It was during a job I do..."

"We do." Jezebel stepped in.

"That we do," John smirked at her, rolling his eyes, "And to be specific, Jezebel was the one who had the case to begin with..."

"So you thought to be the nobleman and take over on this dangerous case?" The doctor's green eyes shone with interest over the story.

"Not entirely that, no."

"It mostly happened like this: I was looking in the papers or rather at this map we use to search for supernatural happenings, and I come across something. John and I went to check it out. We found it was an old type of spirit, one that had been around as far back as the Medieval days.." Jezebel stepped in.

"Spirit?" The doctor looked at the two of them with slight disbelief, showing he was beginning to think of the story as a hoax.

"Yeah." Jezebel continued, "We discovered it was known mostly as the Creeper. He often fed on things for the body parts he needed to replace himself. Mostly on people that happened to be around that area.... He also uses fear to find those parts."

"This really happened?" The doctor raised a sceptical eyebrow.

John continued where Jezebel left off, "Yeah, we eventually found out where he was hiding... An old church... of all things... We found a way in. Came across something horrifying to say the least, a messed up version of the Sistine Chapel painting..."

"It smelt a bit too." Jezebel added with a slight giggle, "Almost as much as John's laundry."

John smirked, "My washing isn't that bad, luv."

"It usually is." Chas smiled as he stepped in, "When you forget about certain things."

"Yeah, yeah. Just finish the story..." He half grinned.

"Anyway, we eventually found the creature itself... A massive demon bat thing up close. That's what it reminded me of, anyway." Jezebel shrugged, "Once seeing us, it shrieked and flew off." Jezebel's gaze lowered, "That was when John told me, we should really head back to our hotel room and come up with a plan... I ignored him, went after it. He must've followed."   
  
"I followed, ignoring my every instinct not to." John added, placing a hand on her back, "I wanted to make sure she would be safe. She followed it to an old nearby cave, and went right close to it. She's a very brave lass in my opinion."

Jezebel blushed at John's comment and the smirk he gave her; she further blushed when he gave a quick wink to her, "I-I attempted to talk with the beast, see if there was any point reasoning with it. See if I would be able to calm or even stop it killing so much...."

"Apparently not as it went to attack... though I don't think it helped when I called it a few insults. Did something right weird beforehand though, I'm pretty sure I saw it sniff up. Its wings were massive and took up most of the cave, and caused quite the draft. This was how I got most of my injuries... Jumping in front of Jezebel, taking most of the beast's weight. He... bit and clawed quite a bit. Was quite the fighter too... Slammed my head into the floor a few times... Don't quite remember much after that..."

"I do..." Jezebel's head was low again, "It flew off... I don't know why... though guess it might not have smelt fear anymore... I know I wasn't scared of it... More angry than anything... With it... With myself."

She became distracted from her thoughts via John placing a hand on hers, "Anyway, it flew off after taking something from John... Not sure what it was... and I immediately went to John's side... I wanted to make sure he was okay... I was scared I had lost him and he was covered in so much blood, so called Chas to see what I should do... and well, here we are."

There was a long pause from the doctor, waiting for his response to the story. He raised an eyebrow, "I think I believe the running story more."

"Well, that's what happened, doc." John shrugged, "Believe it or not."

"Either way, Mr Constantine, your injuries are still too serious to allow you to go home... Again, we'll have to keep you in for observation for the next few days." The doctor added, unfolding his arms; he had placed the clipboard into the tray at the end of the bed.

"Umm, would it be okay if I stayed with him?" Jezebel meekly asked the doctor, before he was able to exit the room, "I'd feel more at ease if I was able to keep an eye on him myself. I don't mind not having a bed, I'll sleep on this chair if I have to... Just please..."

John looked at Jezebel, raising an eyebrow at her, "Luv, you don't have to..."

The doctor smiled, before responding with, "I guess it wouldn't hurt... As long as you look after yourself... I've been told you haven't ate much in the last couple of hours, Miss Connelly, so I advise you do."

"Okay." She nodded; the doctor left.

"Jezebel, luv, you really don't have to stay with me... You know I can handle myself." John tilted his head toward her.

"I know, but..."

"Is this cause of your issues with hospitals?" He gave a knowing smirk, which grew into a grin as she nodded; he pulled her carefully in for a hug, "C'mere, ya big softy."

"Someone's gotta be wary of these places." She pouted, allowing him to pull her in.

"What does the file say?" John asked, seeing Chas reach for it.

Chas was silent as he looked over the paperwork stating of John's condition; both John and Jezebel lean forward, seeing Chas' eyes widen in shock. They both demand an answer from him, "What?!"

"It... It says you're missing... A... A few ribs." Chas frowned in confusion; he looked closer at the document to make sure he saw it correctly.

Jezebel sprang up, heading over to Chas to look over the papers herself; John watched impatiently from the bed, "What? Let me look!"

"Umm, you may not want to..." Jezebel's brows furrowed with worry.

"Why not?"

"Cause that's not all you're missing."

John was afraid of the answer, "What... What else is missing?"

There was a long pause, causing him to become impatient, "What else?!"

He threw back the covers from his legs, intending on getting up; he stopped, seeing his right leg in a cast around the knee and looking completely bruised. He looked from his leg to Jezebel and Chas, a terrified expression on his face.

"W-w-why can't I feel my knee..."

"It says you're missing some knee ligaments too..." Jezebel bit her bottom lip, looking over at him with a sympathetic expression, "I don't... don't understand how that... thing managed to do that in the space of a few minutes..."

"I... I..." John began, eyes still focused on his bandaged knee; he glanced for a mere second at Jezebel, before returning back to it.

Jezebel looked up at Chas, "Will he be able to walk?"

"I guess... I mean if it was that serious the doctor would have said something, right?" Chas rose an eyebrow, glancing at Jezebel; he placed the paperwork back in the tray.

Jezebel headed back over to John, seating herself next to him on the bed, "I'm really sorry, John..."

"It's not your fault, luv..." John eventually looked up, giving a warm smile to her; he sat himself up, making sure to have a clear view of his knee, "But, I need you to do something for me."

She knew what he was going to ask of her, and she dreaded waiting for the answer; she released a short sigh, lowering her gaze even as he took hold of her hands.

"Heal me. With your powers, your magic, heal me." John demanded, giving her those pleading eyes.

"John..." Her hands shifted to fiddle with one another, her gaze faltering onto the bed sheets, looking over each and every crease, "You know I... I can't really control it... I don't really know what I'm doing..."

"I know you can do it; you just need to have a bit of faith in yourself, sweetheart." He gave her a half smile, one he knew always encouraged her, "

"I don't want to hurt you more than you already are.... What if I make things worse?" She finally looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with fresh tears forming.

"Hey, c'mon; you know I can handle it and if it hurts that bad, I'll tell you to stop. Yeah?" He leaned more toward her, placing his hand back over hers, "You can do it. For me."

"John, don't pressure her too much..." Chas stepped in, over towering the bed with his shadow; the fatherly figure coming into play, "We don't want Jez being added to the mix."

"He's right." Jezebel looked between Chas and John; worry was clear on her face, "What if she does try something?"

"Thanks, Chas." John, glaring at him, said through gritted teeth; he smiled back at Jezebel, "Look, I know how much you hate when she makes an appearance and I know how much you don't wanna make things worse... But, we also can't do anything about that demon stuck here, can we? If Jez happens to make an appearance, we'll sort it. We always do. But, we need to sort out this case."

Jezebel's head was lowered, but she slowly raised it, looking back at John; she nodded, "Okay, I... I'll try..."

"Atta girl!" He kissed the top of her head, seeing as she wasn't far from him, "I just wanna get outta here, so let's get this over with."

Chas closed the bedroom door, as Jezebel prepared herself, taking deep breaths and attempting to gain concentration for what she wanted to do. She looked over at Chas, seeing he was sat on the other side of John, holding his hand for support.

She sighed, taking in another deep breath. She hovered her hands over John's knee, closing her eyes to keep concentration. She put all of her might into thinking and wanting to heal him. A slight cracking was able to be heard from John's knee.

"Fuck, that hurts!" He shouted and squirmed, causing Chas to hold down on his shoulder in order for Jezebel to keep her concentration; John looked at her, seeing she hesitated, "Don't stop."

She continued until the cracking had subdued, allowing her to finally breathe again. John sighed with relief, though was short lived as Jezebel collapsed from exhaustion. She collapsed to the floor, falling off the bed and missing the chair. John immediately leapt from the bed, forgetting about his ribs for a few seconds. Chas joined him, coming around the bed.

"Luv? Belle? Belle, are you alright?" He leaned close to her ear, lifting her slightly; he had a hand pressed against her back, the other against the back of her head, "Jezebel, c'mon. Crap."

"She must've warn herself out." Chas stated.

"Might be from the lack of food you was on about. We should get going, before the doctors come in." John heaved her up in his arms, carrying her bridal style, "I've got her. You get my stuff."

"John, should you really be carrying her?"

"Got no choice. Go find my stuff."

In the cab, on their return home, Jezebel slowly gained consciousness; she groaned with a hand to her forehead, "I kinda feel like that weekend we had in Orangeville, Orleans."

"And she finally greets us with her presence. That bad, huh, luv?" John glanced at her, lightly laughing; he ended up gritting his teeth due to a sharp pain in his side, "That... hurt..."

"You should really take it easy, John." Chas stated from the front, "And I advise, don't take on any cases for the next couple of weeks, at least not until you've healed halfway."

"Alright, dad." John huffed back against the back seat, causing a smaller, but still sharp pain to run up his side.

"He's right, though." Jezebel added.

John sighed, "So, I'm gonna be bored outta my head for the next few days..."

"Weeks." Chas corrected, causing John to sigh more heavy.

20 minutes to half an hour later, the car journey became too much for John. He leaned his head back against the seat. He groaned, causing Jezebel to peek an eye open as she had attempted to get a bit of sleep.

"Ugh! It hurts so bad." He moaned, "Chas, how long till we get back?"

"Still a couple of hours yet."

"Ugh!" John groaned louder.

"You're such a big baby." Jezebel giggled, "Here,"

She grabbed a bottle of morphine out of her coat pocket, handing him it; he smiled at her, "How'd you manage to swipe that?"

"I've got skills of my own, Constantine." She smirked; he took the medication needed to help tone the pain of his injuries down.

"Thanks, luv." He smiled, leaning back again.

Another hour later, John's moaning started up again. He evidently got on Chas' nerves with his whining as Chas slowly sunk into his seat, head lowering to the steering wheel and shoulders hunching a little more than usual.

"John, just... take a nap." He stated, annoyance in his voice.

"But, Chas, it hurts!" John whined, "It hurts too much to even think of doing anything else."

Sleeping against the back seat of the car, Jezebel's head rolled on to John's shoulder; a small snore came from her throat. John can't help, but grin at this, temporarily distracting him from the pain in his sides. He moved his arm, so it was around her shoulders, to provide both him and her more comfort. He rested his own head against the top of hers, closing his eyes for rest.

From the front seat, Chas saw it all in the rear-view mirror; it caused him to smile. His body posture eased up, relaxing more now John had stopped moaning. He found the rest of the trip home was more quiet and pleasant.

When the trio finally got home, John was ordered to take to resting. Though reluctant, he obeyed. The next few days consisted of John moaning about his pains, whining about not being able to have a cigarette or a drink, with Jezebel and Chas helping to care and dress his wounds. It also consisted of Jezebel using her magic to heal him, though in parts as to not wear herself out.

Later in the week, John was strolling around the lodge, attempting to find something to do to keep himself busy. He stopped in front of one of the doors, hearing speaking come from within. He pushed open the door. In the room, a medieval type setting, and around a small table in the middle of the room was Jezebel and a small group of her friends, plus Cairo sleeping by her feet.

With his hand over his side, John walked in; he saw they were concentrating on notepads, a set of dice and the odd bit of paper. He noted it was a game known as Dungeons and Dragons - or D&D for short - from his time on the Waverider. He had played a few games with Gary Green, finding he liked the game.

John snuck up behind Jezebel, who seemed to be most involved; her head was stuck in a book, and she seemed to be discussing a plot for her character, so he carefully approached, "Hey, luv, what you doin? Is that D&D?"

"You know what D&D is?" Jinxy tilted her head; Bethany raised her head, looking between John and Jinxy.

"Yeah, played it a few times." He smiled, letting a short laugh escape him; he seated himself next to Jezebel.

"You played Dungeons and Dragons before?" Jonathan looked as if he was about to fall off his seat from the disbelief he felt; Melvina too. Lizzy just raised her eyebrows at the two, feeling she had become immune to any surprises John or Jezebel had, "So you like it?"

"Yeah, it's a pretty cool game." John clasped his hands together, beaming, "So, what are you up to?"

"We're just preparing for a campaign we plan to do next week; I thought since we've got a bit of time on our hands, and we've still got to find a way to get rid of that demon, I would be able to find a bit of relaxation time." Jezebel smiled, "Do you wanna join?"

"Uhh..." John paused, "Sure, I'm bored outta my head, so might as well."

"Jonathan is the DM for this one, so he'll catch you up." Melvina added with a smile; she seemed quite excited to see John was interested in their game.

"Hey, Jezzy; does this make John a nerd too?" Jinxy excitedly asked.

"Hey!" John pouted.

"Pfft... I guess so." Jezebel held back laughter; she put a hand to John's shoulder, "C'mon John, there's nowt wrong with being a nerd."

"Yeah! Be proud to call yourself one!" Blaze further contributed.

"Jezzy does!" Jinxy joined.

John laughed, seeing his partner blush; he pulled her into a hug, being careful of his injuries, "Ah, luv; nowt to be ashamed of, right?"

Jezebel mumbled to herself, before turning to Jonathan, "Just tell him what he needs to know."

"Well... I guess I'll start at the beginning..." Jonathan explained the complex story he had thought out for the previous campaign, making sure John was listening throughout; he ended with, "Wait, do you have a character?"

"Sure do." John smirked; with a short flick of his hand, a small, painted figure appeared - it was a ranger.

"Why does your character look a lot like Aragorn from Lord of the Rings?" Lizzy raised an eyebrow.

"Uhh, coincidence?" John shrugged with a smirk.

"Are you sure it's not just cause you was lazy and couldn't think of a character?" Jinxy grinned, folding her arms and leaning toward him.

"Might be." He smirked even more.

"Wait, I thought you would have chosen to be a warlock or sorcerer, or something along those lines." Melvina tilted her head with curiosity.

"I liked the dark, brooding nature of a ranger...Plus, I'm already kinda a sorcerer." John tilted his head toward her, smirking and holding his hands palm up.

"You're a mage..." Jezebel smirked, "You're not that great, John."

"Heh, thanks for the confidence boost, luv." He grinned, raising his eyebrows.

"I didn't say you sucked. I just said you're not as great to be a sorcerer like Merlin." She grinned back, before sticking out her tongue causing him to chuckle.

"True."

A few nights after their game, John woke from a restless sleep; he was frustrated, in need of a cigarette. He had not been allowed to have even one, being told by Chas (and the doctor) it might cause his injures to worsen. He climbed out of bed, intending on finding the stash Jezebel and Chas had hidden from him. He snuck throughout the lodge, searching every possible place it could have been.

"Where'd they hide them?" He sighed with frustration, being careful and quiet not to wake anyone else.

He continued throughout the lodge; he hadn't realised the small shadow following him. He had woken Cairo up with his shuffling throughout the place. The Shiba Inu plodded after John, trying to see who had 'intruded' his home. It was dark in the room John had ended up in, so all the dog ended up seeing was a dark figure of a man routing through cupboards.

Cairo yipped at the person, causing John to stop and shush him, "Cairo!"

The dog continued to bark, though louder and continuously. He had ended up waking Chas, Jezebel and Zed, who had all come rushing in. Chas was the one to hold a baseball bat above his head, ready to swing. Jezebel and Zed were tired, pretty much looked like the undead, but more alert. Chas flicked on the light to the room.

"John!" Jezebel called, hands on her hips at the scene in front of her; she saw John reaching into the cupboard above his head and Cairo sniffing at his feet.

"Heeyyy, guys..." He grinned innocently, "Sorry Cai woke you; woke up for... some water... Must've thought I was an intruder."

"Then why are you in the storage closet?" Zed asked with raised eyebrows; her hands were also on her hips.

"You were looking for cigarettes, weren't you?" Chas lowered the bat, folding his arms and giving a stern expression.

"What? Pfft, noooo..." John avoided the bear-man's gaze, "Why would you think that?"

"Because that's what you usually wake up for in the middle of the night." Jezebel stated; her expression almost matched Chas, save for it being a bit softer.

"It's the middle of the night?" He tried to sound shocked, but it didn't seem to work on the 3 friends in front of him; his grin faded to a small smirk, "You don't believe me, do you?"

The 3 of them shook their heads in sync. He sighed, mumbling under his breath. He trudged back off to bed. The others following in pursuit, returning to their own beds. Cairo slept outside John's room for the night, keeping guard.

As his injuries heal, the weeks draw on; John thought he was able to do more than what was suggested of him. He came into the living area of the lodge to see Zed and Jezebel were attempting to move some of the furniture around. After a couple of tries of trying to budge a large cabinet and it not having it, the two girls sighed in frustration, leaving to ask Chas for help, not realising John was in the room with them.

John's gaze followed them for a few seconds, before he turned his attention to the piece of furniture they were struggling with. He raised an eyebrow, "Huh, doesn't look too hard... I'm sure I'd be able to lift that."

He positioned himself ready to lift and push the cabinet, one hand on the bottom of it and another on the side. He leaned into it, preparing himself. This also happened to be when Chas and the girls returned, as he readied himself to lift.

"John!" The 3 of them called out as he lifted the heavy furniture; it startled him, causing him to tense - in turn the tension caused his side to act up.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" John held his side, letting go of the cabinet; it was unfortunately over his foot, so ended up landing on that, causing more injury to himself, "Argh!"

Jezebel was immediately at his side, helping to get the cabinet off his foot and to have him rest on the couch; she looked over his wounds, seeing no visible effects, she turned her attention to John himself, "You're a silly twat, you know? What made you think you could lift that?"

"I honestly dunno." He chuckled; he winced, "Saw you ladies in distress, and thought to lend a hand."

"We weren't in distress..." Zed frowned, seating herself on the other side of him, "It was just this thing we were having trouble with."

"Still..." John frowned, "I wanna start being useful around the place again."

"Again?" Chas laughed, "Were you all that helpful before?"

Zed and Jezebel sniggered, especially at the look John was giving Chas; he pouted, flipping the bird toward him. Cairo barked, padding into the room, giving Jezebel an idea.

"Alright, I think I know something you could do."

"What?"

"Walk Cai. That's something to keep you busy and for you to be useful for." She smiled, "Plus, you know how busy I've been the last couple of days, so I haven't had the time to take him out."

"Yeah, okay." John leaned back, folding his arms, "But, we all know he'd prefer you."

The Shiba Inu jumped up onto the couch, padding his way over to John and resting on his lap. Jezebel and Zed awed at the scene in front of them. John rolled his eyes, but the small smile at the corner of his lips was unmistakable.

"You were saying?" Zed smirked.

From then on, Cairo continued to follow John around more; keeping behind his every pace. Though it did annoy him from time to time, John shrugged off the dog's behaviour. It was Cairo's way of protecting him, and keeping an eye on John while he healed.

Late one night, John was wide awake; he wasn't able to sleep. He sighed, raising from his bed, and shuffled out of the room. He hadn't realised Cairo was sleeping outside the door, which when opened alerted him to movement. John snuck around, attempting to find the hidden stash once more, or at least something none healthy for once, considering he was told to eat more healthy, but also to eat more in general. He hovered around the kitchen, attempting to find something of interest. He had yet to see Cairo had followed him.

"Ah-ha!" John silently cheered as he had found a small chocolate bar, "Knew I'd find something!"

The small dog watched from the doorway, seeing him unwrap the sweet. Wagging his tail, he barked alerting his presence. John startled, almost dropping his treat. His brows furrowed, looking toward the dog.

"Cai! Don't do that!" He told the dog, who just wagged his tail again; Cairo stood, letting out another short bark, "Shush! Let me have this!"

The dog continued to bark, louder now; evidently he was tattling on John. Cairo's barking alerted Jezebel, who patted his head as she entered the kitchen. She shuffled forward, her hair everywhere.

"John..." She tiredly asked, rubbing her eyes, "What are you doing up?"

"Uh..." He was caught, so just sighed, "I came looking for something to eat."

"It's late. You know you shouldn't be up this late and should be sleeping."

"Well, you know me, luv; sleep despises me." He let out a short laugh; he frowned, "You alright? You look like you've had a rough night."

"Oh... Just a nightmare again... I was sorta awake anyway." She lowered her gaze to the floor, seeming a little distant.

"Wanna sleep in with me?" He gave a sweet smile, "Then we can keep an eye on each other." 

She slowly nodded, "I... I'd like that."

"C'mon then, luv." John wrapped his arm around her shoulders, leading her out of the kitchen; he quickly hid the chocolate in the pockets of his pants, causing Cairo to sniff at it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a reference to the Legends of Tomorrow episode 'Necromancing the Stone' in there ;)


	50. The Blame Game

Jezebel staggered out to the hospital roof, seeing John was stood by the edge, looking down. She glanced up at the blank night sky, before quietly heading over to him. She was a short distance from him when he spoke up.

"Luv, I'm sorry I got you into this mess. If it wasn't for me, you'd be safe and not hurt... like this."

John was stood with his back to her, but she could tell by the smell he had a cigarette in his mouth. Jezebel stepped up to him, frowning seeing the sorrowful look he cast as he glanced at the city below, and then she wrapped her arms around his chest. She winced when she caught her stitches on her hospital gown sleeve. She pressed her head against his back.

"John, this wasn't your fault... if anything, it was mine for rushing into things. You couldn't have stopped me, you should know how stubborn I am." 

"I could have, but I didn't even try. I couldn't even be bothered to step two paces to stop those bloody imp demons from doing this. Fucking moron is what I am." He took the cigarette between his index and middle fingers, exhaling the smoke.

Jezebel frowned, before she stepped in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders, "John, stop it! I hate it when you bully yourself like that. You're not a moron, and it wasn't your fault. It was mine. End of story."

She quickly pulled him into a hug, not only because she felt like she was going to burst into tears, but because it looked as if he would too. He threw the cigarette down, wrapping his arms around her waist. He buried his face in her hair, taking breaths.

"You silly twat, you know I could never put the blame on you." 

"So you put it on yourself instead, like usual?" His knowing smirk could be heard; it caused her to smile in response. 

"Yeah, it's easier that way... besides it was those bloody demons' fault we were there in the first place, so if we're going to blame someone, let's blame them." She pulled away slightly, looking up with a smile at him, "deal?"

"Fine." He slowly shook his head, grinning, "deal."

"Good." She kissed his nose; she went back to leaning her head on his shoulder as best as she was able to, and deeply breathed

He smirked, "Are you smelling me for the smell of cigs?"

"Well, doc says I'm not allowed to for the next few weeks till I heal." She pouted into his shirt. 

"Hmm, I could just heal you with magic, ya know?" He lowered his head to press against her hair. 

"Not all of us want to solve things with magic, John." She giggled; she came to a halt when she felt a sharp pain in her ribs, which she held, "Ow." 

"Careful now," John looked down, "You should get back to bed... don't want to be making you worse now."

"Now that would be my fault." She gave him a weak smile. 

"Hmm," He gave a light laugh, before taking her hand and leading her back into the building, "C'mon you."

The next morning, Jezebel was talking with John mostly about things to get her mind off her injuries and the pain. Her doctor strolled in, a clipboard in hand, just as a short silence fell between them. The doctor smiled as she looked between John and Jezebel.

"Miss Connelly, your test results came back. It looks as if you're healing quite well, but for the sake of making sure your injuries are healing properly, we'd like to keep you in a bit longer." The doctor smiled.

John glanced over at Jezebel, seeing her anxious expression; he looked back at the doctor, "How long?"

"Well, we're unsure, but I'd say a couple more days."

"Right." He nodded.

"Well, with that, I'll leave you two alone. I'll have a nurse come check you in about an hour." The doctor smiled, before exiting the room.

Once the doctor was out of the room, door closed, John turned to Jezebel, "Can tell you don't wanna be in here, so Chas is waiting outside for us."

"What?" She leaned forward, watching him gather her things and stuff them into his leather bag, "John, you can't be serious?"

"I am. I also know of how you hate being stuck overnight at hospitals - no matter the type of it -. Or how serious your injuries are, for that matter." He stopped for a second, before returning to packing.

"How are we gonna get out unnoticed, huh?" She folded her arms.

He finally turned to look at her, smirking, "With a little trick. I'll show you as we go out."

He shoved his bag over to the chair beside the bed; he took her hands in his, helping Jezebel up out of bed, "C'mon, luv; up and at'em."

Jezebel carefully pulled herself up, with John's help; she leaned on him as he picked up his bag and exited the room. As they hobbled passed the desk, the receptionist stood up, about to stop them. John waved his hand in her face, chanting a spell, before speaking to her, "The discharge papers for Jezebel Connelly have been signed. She has been released. We're allowed to leave."

"The discharge papers signed, you are allowed to leave." She repeated with a dreamy tone; she sat back in her seat, blankly staring at her desk.

"You've used that a lot, haven't you?" Jezebel smirked up at John; they made their exit.

"Uh, obviously." He grinned; he glanced around the parking lot as they stood at the entrance and soon spotted Chas, "Ah, there he is."

"John." Chas nodded; he helped Jezebel into one side of the back seat, while John climbed into the other, "I'm taking a guess, she's actually not been discharged? Have you, Jezebel?"

"N-N-No..." Jezebel's gaze lowered from the bear-like man's; she belted herself in.

"C'mon, Chas, mate; you know she hates those places." John shoved his bag to between his legs on the floor in front of him; he lit a cigarette.

"John, is it really a good idea to smoke around her?" Chas rose an eyebrow, climbing into the front seat; he looked at John via the rearview mirror.

John looked at his best friend in the mirror; a raised eyebrow and a small smirk indicated he was questioning him, "Do you really need to ask that?"

"Of course not." Chas rolled his eyes, and went back to focus on driving.

A few days pass of Jezebel being too sore to do jobs and pretty much anything on her own. She became bored, stuck inside the lodge with nothing much to do. Sooner or later, John noticed. He approached her, as she was sitting with her head back against the couch, moaning.

Sitting next to her, he suggested, "Luv, you're clearly frustrated with staying in this long, so why don't we go get something to eat out?"

"You mean that?" She sat up, looking at him with a raised eyebrow, "You're not just saying that to get me in trouble with Chas?"

"Aw, c'mon; I did that once this week." He laughed.

"You know he scares me when he tells me off!" She pouted, folding her arms.

"I know. That's why it was funny." He laughed again, especially as she glared at him.

"And yes, if you're not going to tell on me, I wanna go out!" She quickly stood up - though was careful not to hurt herself; she shrugged into her coat, pulling on her shoes.

"You was quick to agree to that," He grinned, standing himself; he picked up his own coat from the back of the couch.

"Do you know how boring it gets being stuck in?" She grabbed his arm, leading him toward the door, "C'mon."

Much later, once the two of them had chosen a cafe - a cute 50's themed diner - and seated themselves, John had the waitress come over to them. He ordered their food. The waitress went off, giving their order to the chef to make.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, luv; going for a smoke." John stood.

"Okay." She nodded; she watched as he first headed toward the men's, for the loo, before heading outside to have a cigarette.

Waiting by herself, for their food to arrive, Jezebel took out her phone; she strolled through the news feed on social networks sites she messed around on sometimes. She didn't realise someone standing over her.

"Jezebel?" A raspy, but squeaky voice exclaimed, "Jezebel Connelly?"

Almost recognising the voice, Jezebel looked up; she cringed slightly. In front of her smiled back one of the girls who bullied her throughout high school. The girl took a seat in front of her, causing her to give an awkward laugh.

"Uh, yeah... Hi.., Sammy Jo..." Jezebel lowered her phone to her lap; she leaned back against the booth she sat in.

"It's so good to see you. You look good." Sammy Jo beamed; she suddenly gasped, "You know who would love to see you as well..."

Sammy Jo stood up, rushing off to the other side of the restaurant. She soon returned with a small group - the same group that joined in with bullying. Along with them, Jezebel spotted an ex-boyfriend in the back. Her mouth was open as she looked over the group - memories of those dreaded high school days flooding back in.

"Jez?" The boy she had once dated stepped forward; he had a rather shocked grin on his face, "You look... good."

"Uh... thanks, Bobby..." She lowered her gaze.

"Doesn't she?" Sammy added, wrapping her arms around Bobby's shoulders; she sat herself down, pulling another girl to sit with her, "Isabelle and I were just talking about how a school reunion is coming up, and we didn't know if you were, you know, back in hospital... So, we didn't know whether to invite you or not. But, here you are, in a cafe..."

"Yeah, how was you not locked up? After that mental break down you had at the year 7 dance, we thought you would have been..." Isabelle added, a smirk on her face.

"For your own safety, of course." Sammy Jo added.

"We were all worried about you though." Bobby sat beside Jezebel, leaning uncomfortably close.

"W-w-well, I don't think I'd be able to go anyway... I've been rather busy lately... and my job actually caused me to end up in hospital a little while ago, so I'm still recovering from that." Jezebel leaned away from Bobby; she hoped John returned soon, "Not to sound rude... But, d-don't you, guys, have somewhere to be?"

"Not at all. We're all on a day off." Sammy smiled.

"And we'd much rather catch up with you." A 3rd girl of the group - who Jezebel recognised as Taylor - added in; Jezebel remembered how she was more friendlier than the other girls. .

"Very much like to." Bobby grinned; he looked her over, biting his lower lip.

Jezebel found herself watching the door, continuing to hope John re-entered soon; Bobby caught on as he grinned, "Expecting someone, Jez?"

Frowning, she looked toward him, "Can you not call me that? Don't you remember how much I hated that name?"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't." He smirked; he continued to lean on her.

"Oi, get off her." John yanked the ex off her, pulling him out of his seat by his shirt collar.

"Oh, who's he?" Sammy asked, leaning forward on her elbows, intrigued.

"He's..." Jezebel started; she scooted herself off her seat, standing beside John.

"I'm a friend." John stated, shooting a look toward Sammy Jo, "Now, would you lot mind? We were just going to eat, and I'm sure you have somewhere to be."

Most of the group - minus Bobby and Sammy Jo - trudge off to their previous table; Sammy Jo stayed seated across from Jezebel. Bobby joined her.

"We don't." She beamed, "We actually wanted to talk with Jezebel."

"Y-you do?" Jezebel looked unsure, finally sitting herself back down; John joined her on the same side.

"We do." Bobby smiled at her; he gave a quick wink, making sure John wasn't looking his way.

"What about?" John raised a skeptical eyebrow at the two in front of him.

"Well, we mostly wanna apologise... For what she went through during high school." Bobby started to explain.

"But, we also want to invite her to the little reunion we're having nearby later this week." Sammy Jo interrupted.

"I... I don't know... I've been pretty busy the last few days... and I'll probably be just as busy the next few too." Jezebel started; she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Oh, please do, Jezzy. We'd very much like you to come." Sammy Jo pleaded; she took Jezebel's hands in hers.

Jezebel flinched slightly, wanting to pull her hands back; she glanced at John, "Umm, I guess I could try... Would you mind if I bring a guest with me?"

"Go right ahead." Sammy smiled, pulling her hands away.

The waitress called John over; he sighed, going over to her, "Be right back, luv."

"Okay." Her gaze followed him, feeling much more anxious all of a sudden.

Once John was out of earshot, Sammy Jo turned to Jezebel, "So he's just a friend? Cause I honestly don't see him being more than that with you... He's way too good looking... Hmm, I wouldn't mind waking up to him, though."

"He... He's not looking right now to be honest... He's going through some stuff himself..." Jezebel angrily frowned, clenching her fist below the table.

"Shame." Sammy Jo pouted, shrugging, before climbing over Bobby to get off the seat and going back over to her table, "See you at the reunion."

There was a short silence between Jezebel and Bobby, before he spoke up; he slid himself to sit across from her, leaning over to take her hands in his, "Look, Jezebel; I'll be honest. It was only me that wanted you to come. I've missed you and would honestly like to get to know you again."

From over by the counter, John turned to see Bobby holding Jezebel's hands; he growled under his breath. He turned back to the waitress, who soon returned, "You sell whiskey this early?" She shook her head, "Bollocks, could have used a stiff one right now."

"W-What? Bobby... I... I can't... I mean I'll go to the reunion... if it means that much... but I... I don't think..."

"We'll just be talking most of the thing... Nothing more." He smiled, leaning back.

"Well, okay..." She lowered her gaze again; it raised when John slid back into his seat beside her.

"Waitress had a bit of an issue with the food... Messed a bit of it up..." John explained, "The other lass gone?"

"Yeah..." Bobby nodded; he gave a cool look.

"Why don't you follow her?" John added, frowning, "We wanna eat in peace."

Bobby left, smiling once more at Jezebel; he joined his group at their table. The waitress serving John and Jezebel quickly arrived with their order. They ate in silence - more so because Jezebel kept her head low and refused to talk much. John, on the other hand, kept his gaze on her. They finished up, leaving a small tip for the staff, before exiting. They headed back to the lodge.

On the car journey, Jezebel was no more talkative; John kept glancing over at her in the passenger seat, he was that worried. He sighed, switching on the radio. The unmistakable beat of Livin' On A Prayer came out of the car radio, causing John to tap his fingers against the steering wheel.

With the radio he sang, "Tony used to work on the docks. Union's been on strike..."

Jezebel raised her gaze ever so slightly, looking over at him; he noticed and grinned. He readied himself for the chorus.

"Oh, we're halfway there! Oh, livin' on a prayer!" He belted, though being out of practice caused him to mess up on higher notes.

She smirked, putting a hand to her mouth to stop herself from bursting out laughing especially as John was trying so hard to get the notes right. The rest of the ride home was just him belting out the Bon Jovi hit, and Jezebel ending up laughing at him failing on high notes. As the song slowed to a stop, John lowered the volume.

He grinned, "You enjoy the show, luv?"

"You're bloody terrible at times." She giggled, "You need practice."

"Ey, what can I say; it's been a while." He laughed; he smiled back at her, "And at least it got you to smile."

"Yeah," She simply responded, lowering her gaze to out the window.

Another short silence passed, before John told her, "That incident back at the cafe clearly upset you..."

She looked over at him, expecting to have to explain to him why it did; until he added, "And I'm not gonna make you talk 'bout it, till your ready... so instead, I'm gonna suggest that when we get back, you and I are gonna give Cairo a bath. Gods know that dog needs one, and it gives something to get your mind off what happened."

For a moment, she was silent, gaze low; she looked back at him, nodding, with a small smile, "Okay."

The last few minutes were filled with John telling Jezebel how he would help get Cairo into the bath, but she was mostly on her own after that. He also told her of how he was going to use her as a human shield when Cairo shook himself to dry off. Jezebel, in response, gave a smirk and a few 'uh-huh's. When they eventually arrived home, they were greeted by said dog.

"You set up, I'll bring him up?" John asked, even as he was being pounced on; though the dog only came up to John's knee, he still had to use both hands to keep him at bay.

Jezebel went off to set up in the bathroom; making sure everything was already there when John brought Cairo through. She then called for him, once double checking and setting out a few of towels - mostly on the floor in case of spillage. The dog came bounding in, with John following not far behind.

She clicked her fingers, indicating for Cairo to jump into the bath, and he certainly did try. He found the bath sides too high for him to climb all the way in. John rolled his shirt sleeves up, before helping him get the rest of him in. Cairo sat up, sitting proudly and looking over at John and Jezebel.

"People pleaser, aren't you, dog?" John shook his head, kneeling down on the floor beside Jezebel; he let out a light laugh.

"Of course," Jezebel giggled, turning the tap on to add some water into the bath; once seeing there was enough water to bathe him, she grabbed a cup to scoop some in and poured it over the dog.

Cairo happily sat there, letting her pour the water over him; he eventually looked like he had been shaved with his wet fur. He quietly sat there as Jezebel and John had half of him each to rub soap on, though he did end up licking John's face a couple of times. When she reached back for the cup, Cairo decided he no longer liked being soapy and wanted shake himself. John was the main victim of him doing this - his white shirt becoming pretty much see-through when the dog was done.

Jezebel, stood behind him, laughed; only a small fraction of her had gotten wet, "Thought you was gonna use me as a human shield?"

"I was." He frowned; he glared back at Cairo, who simply panted, "Always pick a favourite, don't you?"

The dog licked John once more causing him to moan, "Cairo, I'm wet enough as it is!"

After washing off the soap and getting him out, Cairo shook the water off again. Jezebel was the one to get most of it that time.

"It's not so funny now, is it darlin?" John laughed, even more so when Jezebel grumbled at him; he reached for a couple of towels, scrubbing Cairo dry - with her help-.

An hour and half later, Cairo was dried almost completely; John and Jezebel were sat relaxing on the couch, when she asked, "You know what would be fun?"

"What's that?"

"We could put bows in Cairo's fur!"

"And make him look girly?" John raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly.

"Yeah, why not!" She giggled.

"If it helps get your mind off what happened earlier, so be it." John shrugged; he looked back to see she had already gotten up, making her way over to where she kept hair bobbles and such.

Jezebel jogged back with a small makeup bag - full of different coloured bows. She sat in front of John, on the floor; she turned back to face him, patting beside her. He sighed, before joining her. He called Cairo over to them with a whistle. The dog trotted over, sitting with his tongue out in front of them. Jezebel turned him around, so the dog was sitting with his back to them.

It took the two of them 5 minutes to get all the bows into the dog's fur securely, though it made him look like a 5 year old had tried to put pigtails on him. Cairo simply continued to sit there with his tongue lolled out.

"Ya know, he'd probably look better with just a bow tie." John finished off, adding the finishing one or two bows to Cairo's fur.

"Well, I think he looks adorable..." Jezebel sat behind John, putting bows in the larger tufts of his hair, namely at the base of his neck; he didn't mind, just allowed her to do it.

Much later, John and Jezebel sat back on the couch; relaxing once again. Jezebel was reading, distracted for a moment. John leaned toward her, looking to see she was reading a particular favourite of hers (and his): The Count of Monte Cristo. He smiled at this.

Still leaning toward her, though now with a frown, John asked, "I know you probably don't wanna, but, luv, you know as well as I do it helps to talk about it every once in awhile... What did those girls and that lad do to you?"

She glanced up at him, lowering her book - closing it with her bookmark in place; she sighed, "I knew you'd ask that sooner or later..."

"Well, it must've been pretty bad if it caused you not to talk all the way through that... I wanna know." He shrugged.

"Okay, well, the basic story: they bullied me all the way through high school... It's what made me drop out... " Jezebel paused, "They did some pretty brutal things to me... Including spread around about what happened to my family..."

John, seeing sorrow in her eyes, placed a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it, "It's alright, luv...You can keep going only if you want... I'm not gonna force you."

"I want to." She gave him a quick glance, looking back to her lap, "One of the worst things they did... They got Bobby to trick me into going somewhere... They... They trapped me in a barn... alone... before they threw smoke bombs and firecrackers at me... and if that weren't bad enough... They went the extra mile of dropping glue and feathers on me, telling me to dance like a chicken..."

John was silent for a moment; he saw the memory was getting to her, so hugged her, "Luv, that must've been hard to go through, never mind remembering it. You probably felt more alone than ever."

"I did.." She sobbed into his shoulder, burying her face; her fists clenched around his shirt, "Bobby was meant to be my boyfriend at the time, I thought he actually thought of me as a person... But, I was a joke to them... I am a joke..."

"No you're not, Belle; you're a better person than you was, you're stronger, and in my opinion, a better person than them." He pulled her out of the hug slightly, "Don't let them get to you. I won't let them hurt you again... I promise."

"That's easier said than done, John." She lowered her gaze; she then looked up, a small smirk at the corner of her lips, "And you're shit at keeping promises."

"Most of the time." He shrugged with a smile; they spent the rest of the night cuddled into each other, eventually falling asleep, though John took out the bows in his hair before he did, "But you should know, I mean this one."

Later that evening, a knock rung throughout the lodge. John groggily woke, glancing around; he groaned, hearing knocking. He rose from his seat, being careful not to wake Jezebel, who he gently set back down against a pillow considering she had been leaning on his shoulder. He rolled up his sleeves as he neared the door. He opened it to find Bobby and Sammy Jo on the other side, causing him to frown in response.

Folding his arms, John asked, "What do you two want?"

"I, uh, we came to talk with Jez. We wanted to see if she was definitely coming to the reunion later this week." Bobby looked up at John with raised eyebrows and his mouth agape.

"Yeah?" He skeptically looked between the two previous bullies, "Well, she's asleep."

"Can't you wake her up?"

"I don't think I want to," John narrowed his eyes at Bobby, "You see, she told me of what you did to her back in high school, and I've decided I don't like either of you... and I don't want you near her."

"C'mon... we're not gonna hurt her... We've put all that behind us." Bobby explained, "We.. We just wanna talk with her." 

"Listen here, we're gonna go to this reunion you lot are going on about, but if you lay one finger on her, or if I hear you've upset her even a little, I'll make you regret it." John threatened, overtowering the two of them.

Sammy Jo stepped forward, suddenly feeling talkative; she smirked, putting her hands on John's shoulders, "Anyone ever tell you, you're so tense? How 'bout I help with that?"

John gave an annoyed disgusted look at the girl, leaning away from her. He was about to speak, only for Sammy Jo to interrupt him again, "Honestly, we just want to talk with Jezzy."

"No." John folded his arms, pulling away from her.

"John, was it?" Bobby stepped forward; he pulled Sammy Jo away from John, "Jez meant more to me than she thinks... especially now..."

John shook his head, pointing an accusing finger at the boy, "Don't. Don't call her that. Jezebel is nothing like that bloody demon."

"You believe her over that?" Sammy Jo raised an eyebrow, a smirk taking over her face.

"Of course I fucking do." John glared at her; he felt someone touch his back from behind, causing him to turn around and see Jezebel with a hand on his back, "Belle; you alright, luv?"

"Just wanted to see if you wanted a drink." She timidly asked.

John gave a small smile at his partner, "Whiskey sounds good; thanks darlin."

Jezebel smiled, before going back down to the kitchen and preparing his drink. Sammy Jo's gaze followed Jezebel. She bit her lower lip in thought, glancing to the floor. She looked back at John and Bobby, seeing they had continued to argue, and she smiled.

"I need the toilet... Can I use your loo?" Sammy Jo innocently asked, stepping forward.

"And another thing..." John stopped mid sentence to look at Sammy Jo with a confused expression, "What?"

"I need to really use the bathroom... Can I use your toilet?" She asked again.

John sighed, stepping aside, "Go."

"Thanks, cutie." She winked, racing passed him; seeing he had turned his back on her, she grinned.

She went further into the lodge, heading down the staircase to look for Jezebel. She found her still in the kitchen. Jezebel leaned against one of the kitchen counters, taking deep breaths. In front of her was two shot glasses - only one full of whiskey while the other seemed to have previously had. Also in front of her was the half full bottle. She poured another glass for herself, swigging it down.

"Aw, Jezzy; your hair looks so nice." Sammy Jo approached behind her; she saw Jezebel was about to thank her, "I guess, if you're into the whole 'I just got outta bed' look."

"Umm.." Jezebel looked at the girl, confused to why she complimented, only to remember this was Sammy Jo and that was usually what she did, "I-is there a reason you came by my place today?"

"You should be glad we wanna be around you; it's not like you had... have many, if any, friends."

"You don't know what my life's like now... I have lots more friends than I did in high school." Jezebel folded her arms, trying to stand her ground.

"Maybe... They could also have pity on you, make you feel wanted, but actually not want to be around you at all... Maybe they hope you'll realise it and just disappear."

As Sammy Jo spoke, Jezebel's posture slouched more and became more withdrawn. She unfolded her arms, started fiddling with her hands. She kept her gaze to the floor again.

"You know," Sammy Jo started, "I bet if your little brother was alive today, he'd have ditched you as well... But, he's not, ya know, cause you kinda killed him. It's like you were begging for attention when you did that. No wonder your aunt didn't want you, such a problem child."

"I'm sick of this." Jezebel's gaze rose and it was filled with anger; she looked right at Sammy Jo, "I don't know why you do it, but it's getting ridiculous now. This bullying you're doing... It's immature and stupid... And... I don't understand why you're like this... It's not something I've done because I hardly spoke with you. It's not my fault. None of those things are. Not your bullying. Nothing you've said is my fault."

"Wrong." Sammy Jo's face went dark; a serious tone to it, though a small smirk played at her lips,"The name Derek ring a bell?"

"I try not to remember high school, but yes it does actually, he was my first boyfriend at that place... What's he got to do with anything?"

"You stole him from me!" Sammy Jo interrupted; her shouting caused Jezebel to shrink back, "You're a man stealing whore! I bet your friend out there actually had a girl before you came along and you butted in their relationship. You ruin everything. That's why everyone leaves you. That's probably why you make up about that demon."

Tears threatened to flow; she was too afraid to speak as she knew she would start crying if she did. She didn't want to give Sammy Jo that satisfaction. From a distance, Jezebel heard John calling her name. Sammy Jo turned toward his voice and headed off toward him and Bobby. Jezebel grabbed the two glasses - refilling hers again -, following slowly behind. She stayed a bit behind, leaning against the wall for a few short minutes.

Chas strolled by, seeing what the commotion was about; he noticed Jezebel leaning against the wall. He stood beside her, arms folded, "You alright?"

"Chas, did John have a girlfriend before I came here?" She asked, sounding distant.

"Uh, not that I know." He raised an eyebrow, looking back at the door.

"Okay," She paused, "Would you hand this to him? I... I think I'm gonna go to bed..."

"Alright then." Chas took the glass from Jezebel, who shuffled toward her room; he noted the saddened, but still distant gaze she had.

John had finally managed to shove their 'guests' away; he slammed the door shut. He let out a loud sigh, evidently frustrated with those people. He turned to see Chas holding a glass of whiskey causing him to grin.

"Just what I need; thanks mate." John happily took the glass, gulping the drink down; he looked back at Chas, "Where's Belle?"

"She.. She said something about going to bed... But, I'd go check on her if I was you, John... Something felt off."

"I thought there would be." His brows furrowed; eyes narrowed at nothing in particular.

"Something to do with the people you were talking with?"

"Yup." John nodded; he patted Chas' shoulder, heading toward Jezebel's room, "I'll see if she's alright. Go make us a couple of snacks, eh? She'll need it."

"You're lucky you're a close friend. Otherwise, I'd have punched you for saying that." Chas raised an eyebrow, frowning at John; there was a tone to his voice that indicated he was joking.

As John neared her room, he wasn't able to hear anything, so his walking pace quicken slightly. He approached the door, knocking and calling out her name. He doesn't get an answer, but entered anyway. Entering proved to be problem however, due to the room being in darkness. All the lights off. He flicked the switch for the main light.

He slowly entered more, looking around the room for her. His pace quickened when he realised he wasn't able to see her; he called out a couple more times, "Belle? Jezebel? You in here, luv?"

John found Jezebel on the other side of the bed, seated with her back to the door. He spotted the razor blade in her left hand, and there being vertical marks all down her arm. She attempted to cover them with a part of her shirt - which was now covered in blood from her wounds -. She looked up at him with a stunned expression.

It took John a couple of seconds to process what she had done, before he leapt forward; he snatched the blade from her, throwing it away, "What the hell is wrong with you? Jezebel, what are you doing? Give me that!" .

"John, I'm sorry... I'm so s-s-sorry..." She sobbed, still looking up at him, "I didn't know what to do anymore. I don't want to leave anyone or upset anyone, but I also don't think anyone would miss me. They'd all probably be happy I was gone. Everything just got to me... I didn't know what to do."

Realising him yelling didn't help her, John pulled Jezebel into him, for a hug; he gently rocked her, kneeling beside, and quietly shushed her, "C'mon, luv; you would be missed. Everyone of us would. Me especially. You're needed here. With me. I'd be lost without you and Chas."

A short silence passed; he eventually asked, "This something to do with those two visiting earlier? They do something?"

Slowly, she nodded against his shoulder; she sniffled before talking, "Sammy Jo... She kept saying how I ruin everything... How everything that happened is my fault..."

"So, she's started on you again?" He frowned; he sighed when she nodded, "C'mon. Let's go sort you out. You know Chas is gonna have something to say as well? At least to them. I know for a fact I do."

Jezebel allowed John to pull her to her feet; she kept herself buried against his chest, him with an arm around her, "It was just Sammy Jo though... Bobby didn't come in and start on me."

"Doesn't mean he didn't have anything to do with it."

John took Jezebel into the living area, seating her on the couch; he called for Chas to bring the first aid kit, as he took to peeling off the part of Jezebel's shirt caked in blood. He used a wet cloth to clear the dried blood. Chas came into the living area holding the small green case, mumbling to himself. He stopped when he saw the marks on Jezebel's arm.

"Don't bother mate; I've already given her a telling off, she definitely doesn't need another one right now." John stated, taking the kit from his best friend; he opened it, taking out what he needed to bandage her up.

Chas seated himself next to Jezebel, glancing over at John, "Some of those look too deep; you're gonna have to sew them up, John."

Blankly, Jezebel asked, "W-what?"

"Was thinking that myself..." John frowned; he looked back at Jezebel, "I'll make it as quick as I can, luv. 'Kay?"

"O-okay." She slowly nodded; John held her right arm out on his lap and prepared the needle and thread, causing Jezebel to take hold of Chas' hand.

"You gotta hold still though." John told her; he paused, standing and heading to the kitchen, "Be back in a sec; I think I know what could numb it a bit."

While John was gone for those short minutes, Chas asked, "You alright, now, Jezebel?"

She nodded, her head down. John soon returned, a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a shot glass in the other. He set them down on the table in front of him. He opened the bottle, pouring some into the glass, before getting out a cotton swab, pouring a small amount on that.

"It's gonna sting." He stated; he hinted at the shot glass, "Which is why I poured that one. Drink it."

Quickly, Jezebel gulped the drink down; her eyes clenched shut as John dabbed her arm with the alcohol drenched cotton. He grabbed hold of the needle and thread again, steadying her arm back on his lap, whilst also trying to keep his own hands steady. He got straight to sewing the more serious, deeper cuts she had made. She bit down on her lower lip, drawing some blood, but not too much. Her other hand tightly gripped Chas'.

"Done this a few times on myself, so I know what to do." John admitted, gaze focused on her arm, "Not the best thing in the world, I know, but at least it helps keep the blood where it belongs."

"You've asked me on a number occasions too." Chas added.

Once finishing with the needle, John snipped just enough of the gauze to cover Jezebel's forearm. Chas, seeing he wasn't needed any longer, went back to the kitchen to finish what he was cooking. John and Jezebel sat in silence as he wrapped her arm up. She kept her gaze low.

"Darlin, you have no idea how much my heart sank when I couldn't hear you..." He admitted, his own gaze low; he took hold of her hands, "I got scared something worse had happened."

There was a short silence, again, before he added, pulling her into a hug, "I wouldn't know what to do if something did."

"John..." She buried her face into his shoulder, "I'm sorry I made you go through with that."

"Luv, I already told them you and I were going to that reunion on Friday, but... if you really don't want to, we won't go."

Jezebel pulled away, "I want to."

"Even after that?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Okay then." He pulled her back in for a hug, "I won't leave your side then."

Three days later, the reunion came around; John and Jezebel had already gotten their outfits for the night. They had already arranged to borrow the cab for the night, considering Chas was having a night in. John was the first to finish getting ready, while Jezebel had a bit of help from Zed. He wore a navy blue suit, with an aquamarine bow tie and handkerchief. His shoes were brown loafers, something he hardly wore, but did when needed.

"John, are you not going to style your hair?" Chas strolled into the room, a cup of coffee in hand; he took a sip.

"Do I really look like the type of guy to style my hair?" John raised an eyebrow.

"You've done it before." Chas smirked, "Besides, didn't you want to make this night feel better for her? Especially after the other day."

"Alright; how do you suppose I have it?" He folded his arms.

Chas approached John, stepping close to him; he messed with John's hair for a bit, fluffing it up, "Well, I guess, I could have a go."

"It wouldn't hurt." John shrugged; he and Chas went into the living area, where John seated himself on the couch.

Chas grabbed the hairspray and gel as they walked by John's desk; he then seated himself beside John. He started by just messing around with John's hair, trying different ways he thought would work. He ended up fluffing it up, styling his hair in a style similar to an upward quiff. It didn't take much gel and next to no hairspray to keep John's hair in place.

"What do you think?"

John stood up, looking into the large mirror above the fireplace; he smiled, liking how he looked, "Nice."

"Do you have the corsage to give to her? Cause you know the reunion is basically the place recreating their prom... And it is Jezebel's first one." Chas asked.

"Of course, it's on my chair, over there."

Not long later, Zed exited the room; she held the door open, "You ready?"

Once receiving an answer from Jezebel, Zed walked into the living area. She had a bright smile on her face. She clasped her hands, announcing, "Presenting her majesty, Princess Jezebel!"

"Zed!" Jezebel whispered from in the room, "Do you have to say that?"

"C'mon! Show them!" Zed grabbed Jezebel's arm, pulling her out; she let go, when Jezebel showed signs of coming out of the room.

Slowly, Jezebel emerged from the room she was dressing in; at that moment, the only sound was the click-clack of her heels. Her gaze lowered when she noticed everyone was looking at her. Her left arm began rubbing her right, almost moving the bandage around her wrist out of place.

The full-length dress she wore was a beautiful aquamarine colour; it was backless, and had a love-heart neckline. It was made of a soft, flowing fabric that Jezebel loved. Her hair was kept up in a romantic braided updo, only loose parts around her ears. Her makeup was fairly simple, yet added that needed touch. With the dress and heels, she also wore a silver leaf necklace that brought the outfit together.

From where he stood, John watched Jezebel with a stunned silence. He had a lopsided grin on his face, eyes gleaming. He carefully looked her over, taking in every part of her. His attention being on her for so long caused Jezebel to blush further. He went to tell her that she looked gorgeous, but nothing came out. His mouth just hung there, agape.

Cairo trotted into the room, and looked up at John. He then looked over at Jezebel, and back at him. He barked, his tongue lolling out. His barking startled John out of his stunned silence. He stepped forward toward Jezebel. He took her hand, kissing it.

"You look... great, darlin!" He grinned.

"Thanks..." Jezebel smiled; she raised her gaze, "So do you."

"Thanks, luv." John smiled; he shook his head, "Oh, before I forget."

He let go of Jezebel's hand, to walk over to his desk; he called Cairo over. With his back to Jezebel, he put the corsage on the dog's paw.

"Cairo, go. Go get Jezebel. Get her." He told him; the dog instantly trotted over to Jezebel, sitting in front of her as John joined them, "Paw, Cairo. Give her paw."

The dog lifted his paw that had the corsage around; Jezebel crouched as best as she could, taking the corsage off his paw, giving him a pat on his head. She looked it over, seeing the black Succulent flowers sewed onto a white ribbon.

She smiled, looking up at John, "It's beautiful, John."

"Here," He took the flowery bracelet from her, sliding it onto her left wrist, "There, looks better."

"You two should get going," Zed smiled, "Don't wanna be late, do you?"

On the short car journey, it mostly involved John trying to distract Jezebel from what could go wrong. There were a number of times he kept complimenting her too. Telling her she looked great or beautiful.

"John, you already said that." She smiled, her cheeks red.

"I wouldn't say it... Keep saying it, if it wasn't true." He shot her a cheeky wink and a grin her way; he asked, "So the food here, what's it like?"

"From what I can remember, shit." She laughed; he laughed in return.

As they arrived into the parking lot, Jezebel spotted Sammy Jo with a group of girls. She began to get nervous at the sight of her bully, beginning to rub at her arm again. John noticed, placing his own hand over hers, stopping her.

"Belle, I'll be right by your side; don't worry." He gave a reassuring smile.

"It's not that I'm worried about; it's more the times you won't be able to be by me..." She anxiously glanced out the window, seeing the group hadn't moved; she sighed, "I guess we better get it over with then."

He stopped her again, "Darlin, I don't want you feeling like that all night; I want you to at least enjoy the night a little... If it helps, any time she comes near you, I'll tell her to do one. Yeah?"

She giggled, "Alright."

"Good lass." He leaned toward her, giving a quick peck on the cheek, "Now, c'mon."

John exited the car, walking around to her side; he opened the passenger side door, allowing Jezebel to get out, "Milady."

"You can be such a dork, ya know." She laughed; she took his hand for a bit of support so she didn't trip over her dress.

"Yeah, well, tonight, I'm your dork." He grinned; he slammed the door shut, locking the car in the process.

John and Jezebel passed by Sammy Jo and her group; Jezebel hoping she won't talk with her. As they pass, she overheard their conversation.

"A cab?" Sammy Jo laughed, "How 'original'..."

"Not at all classy." Another girl laughed.

"Like she could do classy. I bet that dress is from, like, a charity shop or she stole it."

Jezebel lowered her gaze; it raised again, when she felt John take her hand. He smiled at her, pulling her into him more.

"At least it's different." He added on to their conversation, "And different is good in my books."

"That's cause you're different, yourself, John." She smirked.

"Exactly, luv."

A couple of dances and drinks later, the photo booth opened up. John took this as an opportunity to cheer Jezebel up. He grabbed her arm, taking her over - though she protested she hated her photo being taken -. He took up the typical prom photo pose with her - him being behind her slightly, arms around her waist, and close together. The photo was quickly taken, and given to them as the photographer used a polaroid type camera.

John showed her the photograph, "See, not too bad, eh?"

She pouted, still hating the fact he made her have her picture took, "It's alright."

He took out a packet of cigarettes from his blazer pocket, along with his lighter. He flicked the lighter, lighting his cig. A member of staff - an old teacher - strolled over to John, instructing him to smoke outside. He sighed, rolling his eyes, but did so. Jezebel was going to follow him, when Bobby took her hand to talk with her.

"I'll be alright," She told John, who nodded before going outside; Bobby and Jezebel did a bit of catching up.

"What happened to your arm?" He soon asked.

"Oh, that?" She nervously looked down, "It was just something I did while on a job... Just an accident."

"Can I take a look? I did my training in first aid, remember."

She sighed, knowing he would end up winning anyway. Slowly, she unwrapped her bandage to show the marks on her arms. For a moment, he was silent and stunned. He kept looking from her face to her wounds.

"Those don't look accidental, Jezebel, and they look pretty recent... Over a few days I'd say..." Bobby paused, "Was that done when me and Sammy Jo came round the other day? We didn't mean to cause you that much distress if we did."

"No, it wasn't cause you came round... And it wasn't you...."

"Sammy Jo?" Bobby frowned angrily, "She's gone back to her old ways then." 

 

Jezebel nodded, gaze lowered; she quickly wrapped her bandage back around her wrist, securely so it wouldn't fall off. She waited for Bobby's response.

"I can't believe this; we made a pact if we came across you again, to make things right again."

"You made a pact?" She asked, looking at him.

"Yeah, I felt it was only right."

"Thank you."

Meanwhile, John was finishing off the cigarette he was told to go outside to have. He threw it to the ground, stomping on it to put it out. He shoved his hands into his pants' pockets. He went to go back inside, to Jezebel, when he overheard Sammy Jo. He followed the sound of her voice, keeping hidden from her and her group. He listened in on their conversation.

"So the plan's all set?" She asked, "The prank for Jezebel is set up?"

"Yeah," One of the girls answered, "The stage is set."

"Good; are the fake votes to make sure she gets up on it?"

"Yeah," Another girl answered.

"Good." Sammy Jo grinned.

John shook his head; he headed toward backstage. He located the prank Sammy Jo was planning. He adjusted it, so it was bound to go wrong and get her instead of Jezebel. He grinned to himself, proud of his work. He then returned to Jezebel, who was back to being alone.

"Hey, luv." He smiled, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Why do you look so proud of yourself?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll see." He smirked; Jezebel told him of the conversation she and Bobby just had, "Really? That is interesting. So he's good with you now?" .

"By the looks of things."

"We both know the girl isn't." John frowned, and she nodded in response.

She looked down at her right wrist, sadly, "Yeah..."

John grabbed her hand, "C'mon, we're gonna go dance."

"John, you know I can't dance!" She tried to pull him back.

"I can, I'll teach you." He grinned, continuing to pull her to the dance floor; the DJ had started playing more slower songs, so couples were able to get closer, so it made it easier for John to teach her. He took it slower, showing her which foot to step first, one hand on her waist, his other in her hand still, "That's it; left foot first."

"John, look; I'm dancing!" She exclaimed looking up at him with a bright smile.

"You are." He laughed, leading her; they danced for a couple of songs, before heading to sit down.

"How did you learn to dance?" She asked.

"Uh, Chas taught me." He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck, "We thought it'd be a good thing to know ... for any cases."

"Well, you're brilliant."

"I know." He grinned; after a brief sit down, he and Jezebel strolled arm in arm to get themselves a drink each. John pouted as he poured himself a glass of punch, sniffing it, "You'd think with it being a reunion and not a prom, they'd have actual alcohol to drink."

"You don't need alcohol to have a good time, John." Jezebel smiled at him with a raised eyebrow.

"That's true." He grinned, "So, you are having a good time?"

"Better than I thought I would."

"Good."

As John said this, the DJ played club - dance type music; more fast paced than the music that had previously been played while John and Jezebel had been in the hall. John smirked to himself, clearly getting a little plan in his head. He stood up, grabbing Jezebel's hand and pulled her to dance.

She stopped him on the edge of the dancefloor, "John, I don't know how to dance to this music either!"

"I'll show you." He grinned - almost too mischievously -; he received a raised eyebrow in return, and just pulled her toward the dancefloor, "Stand there and look pretty - like you do."

"John..." She sighed, "That's not dancing."

"I said I'll show you." He grinned; that was when he started grinding more up against her - causing her face to go bright red -, even adding in some butt movements.

"John... You prick..." You hid her face behind her hand as she awkwardly stood with him dancing vulgar.

"Mr Constantine!" After a while, a staff member - the same teacher having told him to smoke outside - rushed over to him, "Please keep it clean! This is a family friendly event! Keep your vulgar dance moves for the club or we'll ask you to leave."

"Killjoys," John uttered as he stopped; he linked arms with Jezebel and walked her over to a vacant table.

Before doing that though, they strolled over to the buffet set out. They grabbed a couple of pizza slices each, and headed to a table. Sitting down, John stuck his hand into the inner pocket of his blazer. He secretly took a swig from a flask hidden in his jacket. As he did, Jezebel looked over at him.

"John, did you really bring a flask of alcohol?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

He stopped drinking; hiding it again, "No..."

With a short glare, she folded her arms, "Really? Why does it look like you have it on your chin?"

"I dunno what you're on about." He quickly wiped at his chin, seeing a droplet of the beverage had escaped.

"John." She sternly told him.

"Alright," He laughed, getting out the flask, "I thought it would come in handy."

"Really?" She shook her head.

"Yeah." He smirked; he held the flask out to her, "Want some?"

"This is supposed to be a family event, John." She raised an eyebrow; she bit her bottom lip, before taking it and taking a swig, "Gimme that."

"Heh, knew you'd think so." He grinned, seeing she smirked in response.

Hearing taps on a microphone, their attention was given to the stage; a young looking male, wearing glasses and a suit stood on stage. Jezebel recognised him as one of the younger classmates. He cleared his throat, awkwardly looking out to the crowd in front of him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now going to announce your king and queen of the reunion." He announced, before heading back off the stage, swapping places with another male - one taller and more muscular than he was.

Stepping up to the mic, the other male held onto an envelope; he carefully opened it, "And the results are in..."

As he did this, the mic unknowingly - to him - malfunctions; instead of 'Sammy Jo', the announcer sounded as if he said, "Jezebel." This was when the girl assisting with the prank, when Sammy Jo reluctantly stepped up to the stage, set off their prank. It was also the moment that brought to light John had turned their little prank in on them.

The bucket above her head, filled with fake blood, tipped as her friend let go; it dripped almost slowly at first onto Sammy Jo's head. It was at this moment John stepped toward the stage, a large grin on his face.

"That's what you fucking get, bitch! Karma just bit you in the ass!" He shouted, one arm around Jezebel's waist, while the other cupped his mouth; he grinned more when he saw Jezebel tried to stifle a laugh.

Sammy Jo shrieked; she waved her hands, trying to shake off the blood. When that failed, she ran off the stage. The announcers looked stunned, the audience were between that and laughing. John laughed, pulling Jezebel into a hug.

"See luv, I told you tonight would be better than you thought it would be." He grinned; he gave a short kiss to the top of her head, "Aren't you glad you came?"

"I'm glad you came." She smiled, looking up at him.


	51. Magic Mischief

Zatanna and Jezebel were sat chatting, when John walked through to the kitchen; his shirt undone and tie unknotted. He looked to be searching for something, as he opened most - if not all - cupboards and drawers.  
  
With a slight blush to her cheeks, Jezebel dragged her eyes from John; almost whispering to Zatanna, she asked, "Zee, Don't you get flustered when he walks around like that?"   
  
"Pretty much used to it. I swear he does it to show off what he hasn't got." Zatanna let out a light laugh.  
  
"Also when he does that 'over towering' lean over those shorter than him, to make him seem taller, when he's only like an inch taller." Jezebel added with a giggle.   
  
"Yah, or when he sticks his chest out toward those who are actually taller than him to challenge them." Both girls giggled.   
  
"Yeah, only to get socked right in the face." Jezebel imitated someone punching, though was careful not to aim at Zatanna.   
  
"He deserves it half the time." Zatanna laughed.  
  
"I know right. The amount of times I've had to save his sorry ass from being killed..."  
  
Zatanna continued, "... It's unbelievable."   
  
"Exactly!" Jezebel laughed.   
  
Passing by, John paused just behind the girls with a confused frown, "What's unbelievable?"

"The amount of times you end up nearly dead..." Zatanna laughed, folding her arms; she shook her head, "I've lost count. What about you, Jezzy?"

"Me too." Jezebel added, "I'm surprised you're not, with how many people you piss off."   
  


"Hey, what can I say," John smirked, shrugging, "People love me too much to actually do that."

"Hmm, that's debatable." Zatanna raised an eyebrow; a smirk playing at her lips.

  
"The only time you're not that infuriating is when you're a bunny." Jezebel grinned - a mischievous one at that.

John shot her a glare, "No!"

"What?" She asked innocently; Zatanna quickly caught on to her idea, grinning also.

"I know what you're planning, and Zee, don't you get in on it either!" John pointed at both the girls in front of him.

"Hey, John!" Chas shouted from upstairs - briefly distracting him.

Jezebel cast her spell, changing John into a bunny; he sat looking up at her, twitching his nose. He folded his arms, pouting causing her to giggle more. Chas entered the room, only to receive a shock. He looked over at the girls, who were laughing their asses off.

"You girls have something to do with this?" Chas hinted at the bunny wearing the red tie his best friend usually wore.

"Of course they fucking do!" John shouted; he hopped up onto the couch, sitting between Jezebel and Zatanna.

"Well, I just got a phone call; Dusk is on her way here." Chas responded, "So, you may want to change him back before then."

"Nah, he's cuter and less frustrating like this." Jezebel smirked, receiving a glare from John.

"That might be true, but I doubt your friends want a grumpy rabbit around." Chas laughed; he exited the room, going back to his business.

"That must mean I need to get off." Zatanna stood up, brushing herself off.

"Aw, do you have to?" Jezebel pouted.

"Unfortunately, yes. I'm meeting up with a couple of old friends."

"Let me guess, Wonder Woman?" John asked, hopping onto Jezebel's lap; he leaned on the arm of the chair as Zatanna had walked around to the other side of Jezebel.

"Yup."

"You've been pretty close with her recently." The blond rabbit smirked; he wiggled his eyebrows, "Something going on with you two?"

Zatanna scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Always gotta make that sorta comment, don't you John? But, no, nothing's going on with us."

"Of course." He laughed; he gave a shocked gasp as Jezebel stood up with him in her arms.

"At least give me a hug before you go." Jezebel told her.

"Of course," Zatanna giggled; the two hugged.

"I don't mind this at all." John grinned, being between the two girls' chests.

Jezebel parted the hug, "Just for that, I'm not changing you back before Dusk gets here."

"I'll see you both later." Zatanna giggled; she said her goodbyes to Zed and Chas before leaving.

"Belle, change me back!"

"Bye Zee," Jezebel smiled, also giggling; she turned to seat herself back on the couch, rabbit John still in her arms.

"Belle, change me back, now." John attempted to tell her with stern tone; he sat up on his hind legs, seeing as her arms weren't around him now.

"No."

"Jezebel..."

"I don't see why I should." She smirked; she began stroking his belly causing him to give a relaxed smile; his back foot tapping away, enjoying the feeling it gave him.

He suddenly stopped; he sat up, holding her hand with his paws, "Stop that."

"Aw, c'mon John; I saw you enjoying it." Jezebel laughed as she continued to scratch behind John's ear.   
  
"...No, I wasn't...." John pouted, folding his small arms; she stopped scratching behind his ear - to prove to him he did indeed like it - and he told her, "I didn't say stop...."   
  
Jezebel gave a knowing smirk, "Uh-huh."

Hearing a knock at the door, Jezebel set John aside; she answered it, knowing it was likely Dusk and Edward on the other side. John snuggled in on himself, keeping warm with his bunny fur - almost causing him to fall asleep. It was indeed Dusk and Edward on the other side, and due to the two girls talking, Edward became bored.

He made his own way down the stairs to the living area of the lodge. He smiled to himself, letting out a light 'huh' when he saw the blond bunny snuggled up on the couch. He strode over to the John rabbit - not realising the rabbit was in fact John -; he picked him up, stroking the rabbit's head and slightly cooing over him.

"Mate, if you don't put me down, I will bite you." John grumbled, half asleep.

Edward threw John rabbit back onto the couch due to the slight shock he had received, "Ew!"

Dusk and Jezebel returned to the living area themselves; they chatted among each other. They also watched the short - cute interaction between the two men. Dusk smirked to herself, an idea popping into her head. Jezebel saw the smirk on her friend's face, questioning it.

"Would it be so bad if I suggest changing Edward into a bunny as well?" She asked, looking up at the inch taller Jezebel, "I mean it could be a way they might get along."

Nodding, Jezebel agreed, "That's true. They would most likely get along if they were both rabbits."

Hearing the last bit of the girls' conversation, Edward was about to detest; a furious expression crossing his face the two of them would even suggest such a thing. He wasn't able to give a verbal detest due to the spell already being cast on him. He was transformed into a brown and caramel coloured bunny, slightly taller than John. The spell had caused Edward to almost land on John, making them both grumble, shouting insults and the like toward one another.

"C'mon you two; learn to get along." Jezebel smiled.   
  
"Yeah, or she won't change you back." Dusk added.  
  
John and Edward grumbled to themselves, reluctantly hugging. They both gave a sarcastic smile to show they were 'getting along'.   
  
Whispering to Jezebel, Dusk asked, "Do we really have to change them back straight away? They look so huggable!"  
  
Whispering back, Jezebel responded with, "I'm sure we can leave them like this for a couple more minutes....Or hours."

Much later, once the spell had been reversed on both John and Edward, John decided to turn the tables on the girls. He used the same spell Jezebel had on him, only for them this time. It changed Jezebel into a brown and black bunny, while Dusk was changed into a grey, fluff ball of a bunny. He smirked as they ended up plopped down on the couch by the spell. Edward immediately gushed over the newly transformed Dusk - much to her dismay -.

John, looking rather smug, lit a cigarette; he leaned back against the couch - the two female rabbits glaring up at him. Jezebel seated herself beside him, cuddling slightly into his thigh. He continued to smirk even as both girls gave him a telling off.

"I swear to Gods, John!" Dusk pointed to John with her paw, her tone filled with both anger and demand; she hopped closer to John, "Change us back, or so help me I'll beat the living crap outta you!"  
  
"Yeah? And how are you gonna do that, at the size you are?" John smirked, a cigarette hanging out the corner of his mouth, sitting chilled; bunny versions of Jezebel and Dusk sat staring up at him.  
  
"No. John. No." Jezebel began to state, "Do not even go there."   
  
"Naw, Belle, you look just as adorable, if not more." John continued to smirk, quickly taking a drag of his cigarette; his comment caused Jezebel to both blush and angrily pout at him - even more so when he tickled her chin and caused her back leg to thump a couple of times..  
  
"He's right, Dusk, you do look adorable." Edward stepped in, leaning over Jezebel to get a clearer view of Dusk bunny, "Well, you look more cuter to me."   
  
"Adorable! I'll show you fucking adorable, Constantine!" Dusk shouted; due to his arm hanging over the top of the couch, his hand reaching to just about Dusk's head, she was able to bite one of his fingers.   
  
"Ow," John yelled, snatching his hand away from the small bunny, "You are a fluff ball of fury, aren't ya?"  
  
"You better fucking believe it." Dusk smirked up at him.   
  
"You know, I was just getting you both back for what you did to us before." John started rubbing the sore part of his hand, which bled a small amount

"Hey, we had a reason." Jezebel pouted; she leaned up against John's leg.

He smiled at her, "Yeah, and that being?"

"I... Uh... I wanted a bunny to cuddle...?"

"Hmm," His lips formed a slight smirk; he lifted his head, nodding slowly, "Now, I have a rabbit to cuddle."

"Just change us back." The two girls begged.

"Constantine, just change them back." Edward demanded, seeing the frustration in Dusk's face.

"Hey, you weren't complaining before." John smirked, "Especially when you was hugging her."

"And now I am." Edward frowned, still holding the grey bunny Dusk.

John sighed, "If I must."

He reluctantly changed both girls back; getting an earful afterwards, to which he just laughed at.  


	52. Shapeshifter

Starting their day with a cup of tea (or coffee in John's case), Jezebel stood in the kitchen making drinks. John stayed seated in their living area, comfortably rested on the couch. He was scrolling through his phone, looking for new cases to take on, when he felt a wave of sudden nausea overtake him.

He frowned, looking up from his phone. He looked around at Jezebel - who was still busy in the kitchen - to see if she had seen. He smiled when he saw she yawned. John shrugged off the sudden sickness, thinking it as nothing and just part of waking up from a night of rubbish sleep.

"Probably nothing..." He muttered to himself, going back to researching some jobs.

Before finishing up their drinks, Jezebel looked up, thinking she heard John say something. She finished up, shaking it off as she misheard, and strolled back into the room. Carrying two cups of hot liquid; she seated herself next to John; looking over at his phone to see if he had found anything.

"Anything interesting?" She asked; taking a sip of her honey flavoured tea.

He took his brew, taking a gulp of it. He frowned in response to her question, shaking his head, "Fuck all, luv, and map's dry as a bone."

Thinking for a couple of minutes, as she took another sip of her drink, Jezebel asked, "Well, what about the paper?"

"What about it?"

"There's bound to be something for a job in it, if not then, maybe an article giving us a hint on where to go?"

Pondering for a moment, John paused; he thought on her suggestion, knowing there probably won't be any responses through email in the next couple of hours and the map was unlikely to show any sign of changing. He took the last gulp of his drink, placing it on the table once finished.

"Alright, but you'd have to go to the shop for one." He grinned.

"Why don't we both just go out for breakfast and get it then?" She returned his grin, giving a slight elbow nudge to his side.

He chuckled, and stood, "C'mon then."

After a short car's journey, the two occult detectives visited Piedmont Park; they browsed through the farmer's market for a newspaper stand and their breakfast. As they strolled through, John noticed anyone with a newspaper glared at him with a funny look his way. He shrugged it off, knowing that not many people liked him anyway. Jezebel paid for a newspaper, having found a stand selling them.

John spotted a bakery stand; he asked, still looking over at it, "How bout croissants for breakfast?"

"I like the sound of that." Jezebel nodded with a smile; they buy their breakfast - noticing one stand holder continuously glare - and quickly move on.

John and Jezebel found a park bench to eat on; seating themselves as comfortably as they were able to. Once finishing up her breakfast - which was quickly - Jezebel took to gazing over the paper, while John just took to lighting a cigarette. She flipped through it, stopping when she came to an article titled 'Triple murders go unsolved - suspect sighted?'. Her gaze instantly averted to an image provided of the suspect - they looked as if they were looking around and trying to avoid the camera.

"Hey, John," She commented, "This guy kinda looks like you."

He looked over the picture, seeing it was blurred, guy's face was unclear; he frowned, "Luv, how can you tell? That picture is blurry..."

Before she was able to reply, the two of them were approached by 2 police officers; beside them, a concerned citizen cowered - in their hand a newspaper. The taller officer folded her arms, looking more intimidating compared to her partner. While Jezebel was a little anxious to what they want, John just grinned up at them.

"Can I help ya, officers?" He smirked.

"We're gonna have to ask you to come with us, sir." The smaller, male officer responded - looking unimpressed with John's attitude toward them.

"Why? I've not done anything disruptive; all me and my partner have done is sit here." John frowned, losing his cocky facade; he folded his own arms.

"That might be so, but a citizen brought something to our attention and we'd just like to ask you some questions back at the station." The female officer commented.

"John, maybe to avoid a confrontation, we agree to it." Jezebel, whispering, placed a hand on her partner's shoulder; seeing as there was a small group of people looking over at them.

Seeing her anxiousness, John sighed; he nodded, standing, "Let's go then."

Arriving at the police station, John was taken to one interrogation room, while Jezebel was asked to sit in another. Both interrogation rooms were bare, painted dull colours; except for a large window-mirror, a table and 3 chairs. John leaned back on the chair situated facing the mirror, sighing. The cops had left him in the room about 15 minutes ago, and he was getting bored. He glanced up, spotting the flickering fluorescent light.

He was about to get up to ask what was going on, when the door opened; Jim Corrigan strolled in, a file in one hand, a coffee in the other. Behind him stood - what John guessed - was Jim's new partner. He was a rather thin man with a long, pointy nose. He slouched a little at his shoulders. His arms folded. Something John did notice, the guy glared at him throughout the whole interview.

"Jimmy! Nice to see you again." John smiled, leaning forward on his folded arms; he grinned more when he saw Jim rolled his eyes. "Wanna tell me what me and Jezebel are doing here?"

"John." Jim placed his cup and file on the desk, "Well, there's been a case, and as you've probably guessed - you're a suspect. Jezebel's just here to give you an alibi."

"Hmm, really? Didn't get that hint from all the glares I've been getting." John raised an eyebrow; he gave a slight nod of his head toward Jim's partner, "Gonna introduce me to your friend there?"

"This is Detective Snodrass; he is my partner for this case I am leading on."

"You mean the one I'm being accused of?"

"Don't play the innocent game with us, Constantine! We know you did it! There's a picture of you doing the bloody crime!" Snodrass pointed a boney finger toward John, who frowned at him; he pushed the paper in his hand toward him, page saved on the article John and Jezebel were looking at beforehand.

"You mean that blurry picture in the paper?" John pointed the picture out; he gave the two detectives a disinterested frown, "Oh,  _sure_ that looks like me..."

"Snodrass." Jim stated, "Don't jump to conclusions. We don't have any evidence to prove he was there that night."

Snodrass grumbled to himself, setting himself back down on his chair across from John; he continued to glare though. John returned it with an annoyed glare. He turned his attention back to Jim.

"So what were these questions you lot wanted to ask?" He raised an eyebrow, "In case you were wondering, Jezebel and I have a job to do later."

"Yeah and what's that?" Snodrass interrupted, still leaning back in his chair and glaring.

"Our job." John simply stated.

"You didn't answer my question, what  _is_ your job?" Snodrass leaned forward slightly, "Answer; you're already a suspect, so not answering will only add to it. Even if you aren't guilty."

"You know what, I don't need this." John pushed his chair back, intending on standing.

"John, please sit down." Jim rubbed his temples, "We need you to cooperate."

"Yeah, well, tell  _Snotass_ that he's not making it any easier for us both." John pouted, sitting and leaning back in his chair.

The thin detective corrected, "Snodrass."

"Like that's any better, mate." John grinned at the other detective.

Jim sounded more irritated, "Both of you, just please... Let's get this over with."

"I'm good with that." John gave a non-committal smile.

"Fine." Snodrass shrugged.

"We should start with some really simple questions, what's your name and address?" Jim started questioning, having a pen and paper at the ready to take notes.

"John Constantine." He sighed, "Address, The Millhouse, 223 Wales Ave, NW, Atlanta, Georgia."

"Can you tell us where you were and what you were doing at 12:45 AM on October 22nd?" Jim asked, looking down at his case notes.

"I was back at the lodge, with Jezebel; we were watching a movie."

"For the entire night?" Snodrass interrupted.

"Yes, we were having a marathon of horror movies; she insisted."

"You didn't go out at some point?" Jim asked.

"Nope." John paused in thought for a second, "I did go out for snacks around 12:30ish, but she came with me for the car journey."

"When you say for the car journey, did she stay in the car or did she follow you into the shop?" Jim asked; John shot him a glance, "I need to ask these, John."

With a sigh, John replied, "She stayed in the car, 'cause she fell asleep on the way there."

"So she wouldn't be able to tell us if you went somewhere other than the store for snacks at that time?" Snodrass asked, a slight smirk at the corner of his lips.

"No, I guess she wouldn't..." John rubbed the back of his neck, "But, that doesn't mean I was anywhere near this crime you're going on about, especially a murder."

"What area was you in?" Jim asked, giving a glare to his partner.

"Uh, James Jackson Parkway... We were at the Chevron gas station. Chas asked me to get some gas too since I was borrowing his car."

"Did you go anywhere near the Waffle House on Bolton Road?" Jim asked; he continued to write notes as John answered.

"You know that's only a fair bit down the road, it's not far from the gas station at all?" John raised an eyebrow.

"Just answer the question." Snodrass answered impatiently.

"I guess we did. We didn't stop long, but she did wake up to ask we go get food from there. We got food, ate it and went." He ran a hand through his hair; he was getting rather annoyed, "Can I go yet? I have stuff to do."

"Alright, but you can't leave the country." Jim stated, "At least while you're a suspect in this case."

"What? That's -" John sighed, feeling his energy quickly drained; he shook it off, trying to seem he was alright, "Fine. I'm good with that."

Jim indicated toward the door, standing and walking toward it; John followed, "I'll walk you out. Snodrass, I'll meet up with you later."

"Fine." Snodrass grumbled, going the opposite direction to John and Jim.

"Jezebel's out in the waiting area. We'll go meet up with her now." Jim responded, seeing the question was on John's mind, along with a few others.

When the two of them strolled through the double doors, Jezebel sprang to her feet; John smiled, seeing her rush over. She began firing a ton of questions toward Jim.

"Luv," John laughed, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Give the man a chance to answer."

"How about we start with what's going on?" Jim smiled, seeing Jezebel look from John to him for answers.

"That sounds good." She nodded.

"Well, as you've probably read in the papers, there's been a number of murders, and the slight image we got of the suspect looks like you, John. We only wanted to bring you into knock you off the suspect list..."

"Did it?" John raised an eyebrow.

"Not exactly... You did say you was at the Waffle House the last murder was at, near the time it happened. So unless some new evidence comes in proving you weren't on the actual site of the murder, then you still count as a suspect."

"Does my interview not help much, then?" Jezebel asked; she linked arms with John, who gave a short glance to her, a smile appearing on the corner of his lips.

"I'm afraid not. You both stated that you were in the area, Jezebel fell asleep when you went out and you went to the Waffle House."

"Great." John frowned, "Along with this shitty week, I'm a murder suspect."

"Sorry John, not much I can do about it." Jim shrugged, "At least you're free to go for now."

"That's true." John perked up only a tad amount.

"See you guys later," Jim began walking off, "Hopefully it's on good terms, not bad."

"Yeah..." John slouched slightly again.

"John?" Jezebel saw his drained expression as they left.

"Yeah?" He gave a short glance.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure Jim will find something that helps disprove you as a suspect." She smiled, "I know for certain you didn't do it."

"Huh, guess so..."

"You know something I noticed though?" She smiled up at him.

"What's that, luv?" He gave a small smile back; putting his arm around her shoulder, pulling her that bit closer.

"Snotass has his head so far up his ass he can pick it with that pointy nose of his." She grinned more when John's smile turned into a grin as well.

He laughed, "You're right there."

When the two of them stepped toward the car park, Jezebel searched for the car, while John paid the ticket fee. Standing at the ticket machine, he noticed on a nearby tree sat a couple of ravens. John frowned at this.

"Midnite..." He grumbled; he kept in mind that he was to pay Papa Midnite a visit later, but for now, he attempted to find Jezebel and the car.

"I found it, John!" He heard Jezebel call a short distance away; he followed her voice.

On the way back home, John was driving; Jezebel looking at her phone. She was telling him how she found an email for a job they could do in Atlanta, though it was only a very small job - something to do with a chicken. He unintentionally tuned her out, as another wave of nausea overtook him. The slight dizziness caused him to swerve the car, almost colliding with another car - which honked as it passed.

Sat back in her seat, Jezebel slowly peeled herself from it; she leaned forward a little, "John, you alright?"

"Yeah... Just..." His hands tightly gripped hold of the wheel; something he quickly noticed and untightened. He nodded, giving a small smile, "Yeah, just went a bit too far into thinking I guess." 

"You look really pale... and a bit queasy..." Her brows furrowed with concern. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, darlin'" He smiled.

"Okay then..." Jezebel's tone of voice hinted that she didn't entirely believe him.

A few minutes of silence passed between them; when they were halfway home, John piped up, "Gonna have to drop you off. I need to pay a visit to someone who's been needing it lately."

"Okay, I need to do a bit of research when I get in anyway." She smiled, "Do you know where that big book of demons went?"

"Did you not put it with your other books, in that corner you made?" He raised an eyebrow; a smirk played at his lips, already knowing it was there.

"Probably." She gave a sheepish smile, "I'll check when I get in."

"Yeah."

As stated, John dropped Jezebel off, before going to do his own business. He drove to the other side of Atlanta, to Papa Midnite's area. He didn't need to use much stealth, especially as he saw Midnite's birds over head. He sighed to himself, strolling into the hideout.

"Midnite!"

"Constantine, nice of you to visit." Midnite had his back to John; one bird perched itself on his shoulder, whispering to the voodoo priest, "My Cedilla and Reekee tell me you came here with a purpose, yes?"

"That's right." John stood with his arms folded, "Your bloody birds have been stalking me and Jezebel!"

Midnite turned to him, frowning, "How dare you accuse my pets of something. They might have done so in the past, but they have been by my side the whole night."

"Then who's birds are those?" John pointed toward a couple of ravens seated on top of a wire fence across the road from them.

"They are not mine, but I can find out for you."

"Yeah, for a price no doubt?" John sighed.

"Only a small one."

"Go on then, what is it?"

"I need you to retrieve the Ace Of Winchesters."

"That's not exactly small, Midnite."

"True, but I won't give you a time limit, just make sure you get it to me or I'll put a curse on you." Midnite gave a hint of a smile - indicating he was only half joking.

"Oh, that's great news." John continued to frown; he sighed, "I guess it's better than nothing."

"For me to find out, you're gonna have to get a feather from one of them... Or the actual bird."

"You have a gun?" John's gaze was on the ravens across from him.

"Yes?" Midnite handed his shotgun to John.

"Great." He shot at the birds, killing one almost instantly, while the other flew off; he paused, before collecting the bird carcass, "Don't tell Jezebel I did that. She'd kill me if she knew I killed an animal."

"Noted." Midnite held back a laugh as John collected the bird.

"Here." He handed it to Midnite, who took it; he wiped his hand on his pants, smearing a bit of blood there.

As Midnite took the bird in his hand, John leaned leaned on the closest wall, retching almost; Midnite watched him for a moment, before returning to what he was up to.

"I did not think gore would ail you, Constantine, especially in the job you have."

"It doesn't..." John answered; he sat himself down on a brick pile next to the wall.

"Then would you care to tell me why you retched the way you did?"

"It's been happening a bit recently."

"The sickness?"

"No, the fucking tap dancing. Of course I mean the sickness!"

"I only ask to confirm." Midnite paused preparing his spell, glancing at John, "It just comes out of nowhere?"

"Yeah... Don't even know why."

"I think I might know what's causing this... But, your partner may have found out a better solution. Maybe wait till you see her?"

"Belle? Course she would have found out; she knows when I lie to her. She'll know I'm not alright, so she'll look into it."

"You didn't tell her? Maybe you should, she could help more in that situation."

"What are you now? A therapist?" John shot a glance toward Midnite; he rested his head back. The feeling of nausea hadn't gone as quickly as the previous times. It caused him to push himself forward, leaning over on his lap, "Nevermind."

From his leaning position, John heard fingers click, then he felt something tap his shoulder. He glanced up to see one of Midnite's zombies; he held a bowl of liquid toward him. John took it, letting the minion walk off, before he glanced back at Midnite.

"What's this?"

"Helps sickness." Midnite continued with his spell.

John sniffed the substance; he sneered in disgust, "It doesn't smell too nice."

"Do you expect something good to always smell nice?"

"Kinda yeah,"

"Just drink it. I'll tell you one thing about it: it has ginger in it. Ginger is known to help nausea."

"Oh... good then." He gulped the liquid down, finishing it, "Wasn't as bad as I thought."

"See."

"Thanks."

Midnite quickly finished his tracking spell he was using the spy raven for; he chanted a couple of Latin words, before an image appeared in the bowl. An older man appeared; he had graying-brown hair kept in a half up/ half down style. He wore tatty brown robes and walked with a cane. Tribal-like patterns burnt into his skin, around his arms and neck.

"That's who is spying on me and Jezebel?" John asked, approaching behind Midnite.

"It appears so."

"Does it tell you where he is?"

"Can find out." It took a bit of time, but Midnite eventually found that Christopher Rivera - the man in the image - lived quite close by; he lived close to the lodge - or at least near the town nearby.

"Cheers, mate."

"Don't forget, you owe me one, Constantine." Midnite called as John went on his way.

Meanwhile back at the lodge, Jezebel was doing some research of her own. She had noticed how John's complexion changed to a sickly green when he had the episode back in the car. She also noted he lied to her, but she was going to save that for when he got back. She rooted through her books until she came across the book of demons she had previously asked him for.

"Hmm," She flipped through the book; eventually coming to a page that caught her eye, "Cause waves of sickness, dizziness and often blackouts in the person they impersonate..." She glanced up, "Shapeshifters, huh? At least I know what's causing John to be a suspect in this murder now, and the reason he swerved the car... The real reason..."

She noted this down along with a few other shapeshifter notes they would need. She folded her paper up and tucked it into her inner coat pocket.

Back with John, he was on his way to meet with their so-called stalker; see what he was up to. Along the way, nausea came back, accompanying the dizzy spells he got. It caused him to swerve the car a couple more times - appearing drunk to outsiders -. This was why he guessed the cops pulled him over.

Over the speaker, Jim called, "Please step out of the vehicle. I repeat step out of the car."

"Alright, alright," John turned the engine off, stepping out, "I'm getting out."

He leaned against the car's side for support; Jim and Snodrass strolled up to him, their arms folded. They stopped in front of him. John smiled, glancing up.

"Can I help you fellas?"

"You were drunk driving." Snodrass stated.

"I was not."

"John, it looked like you was. You swerved the car a number of times. We saw it." Jim answered.

"Jimbo..." John started, placing a hand on Jim's shoulder; he glanced over him, seeing their car, "Wait... Is that a Prius?"

Jim responded with a heavy sigh, "John...."

"I probably am drunk then..." John joked, laughing, "Hey, when you take me to the station for this false cause, can you call a proper cop car to pick me up?"

"You really put up with this prick?" Snodrass turned to Jim, who simply shrugged; he shook his head, "Well, I don't need to."

Snodrass grabbed John, turning him to face the car; he slammed John's upper half into the car's bonnet. He snapped handcuffs to John's hands, locking him in place. Jim just sighed, folding his arms. John continued laughing.

"You're under arrest." Snodrass shouted, leaning onto John; he yanked him to standing upright, leading him to the cop car.

"Aw, c'mon we won't all fit in there." John laughed, "You gonna sit me on your knee or something?"

"Shut it, you!"

"John, why do you never cooperate properly?" Jim sighed, standing in front of him.

"Hey, I do.... Sometimes,,," He smirked, "I don't cooperate if I'm being blamed for something I know I definitely didn't do... like being drunk.. I know I'm not at the moment, and I certainly wouldn't be driving...I suck when I'm sober, never mind being drunk."

"Then why did you swerve the car?" Snodrass roughly turned John to face him.

"I was playing chicken with other drivers..." He smirked.

Jim gave a stern look, "John."

"Alright," John stopped; with a sigh, he glanced down, "I dunno why, but I keep getting these weird dizzy spells... It caused me to swerve the car before as well... But, it didn't happen for as long as it did then."

"He's telling the truth, Snodrass; let him go." Jim watched John, before he nodded; when Snodrass didn't obey orders, he impatiently told him, "Snodrass, let Constantine go. Now."

Mumbling, Snodrass finally did as asked; he unlocked the cuffs, releasing John, who rubbed his wrists seeing as the cuffs marked him a bit. Snodrass continued to mumble to himself, getting into the car.

John watched, and when the car door slammed, he turned his attention back to Jim, "Wanna tell me why you were following me anyway?"

Jim looked back at John, glancing away for a second; he sighed before explaining, "We got some evidence back from the crime scenes... A piece of hair came back with your DNA on it, John."

"W-what?" John's eyes widened; he stared wide-eyed at Jim, waiting for him to continue, "I... I dunno how... I was... I didn't do it... Jezebel can tell you that!"

"How can we prove that? Your DNA came back... That's a bit hard to disprove..."

"I... I dunno..." John lowered his gaze; his view quickly snapped back to Jim, "But, I am telling you, this is something I would never do, Jim. Never."

There was a short pause, before Jim answered with, "I can let you go for a couple of hours or so; get some alibis... Sort what you need to help prove you're not guilty. But, you've been warned, if you can't find anyone, I'm gonna have to bring you back to the station... Under arrest."

"That sounds like a pretty alright deal... I'll see what I can do.."

"Good; go sort yourself out. If you're gonna drive, go slow... Or don't drive at all." Jim told him, about to get into the Prius' passenger side; he paused, "Remember; I'll give you 3 hours, John."

Jim left John to his thoughts, getting into the car; John knew Snodrass had something to say about him not going with them, but at that moment he didn't care. He had a ton of thoughts running through his mind, his main question being: who was framing him for murders?

Meanwhile, inside a somber office of an abandoned factory, black shadows danced across the ceiling as the figure that cast them stood before a television set. They kept to darkness, hiding out of sight in case people passing happened to catch a glimpse of them. They were glad the sun had gone down, it being dark though was only 6PM.

Unbeknownst to them, a snooping witness roamed around the factory grounds. She happened to look in a broken window to the office, seeing only the switched on TV at first; she thought this to be strange, but continued to look inside (though not actually going in). That was when she caught a sighting of the figure's face. Her brows furrowed as she neared the window, using her hands to shield the glare off.

From the TV reflection, she only saw his red eyes at first; they looked dark and almost evil. Then he leaned forward, showing not only his angered expression from the news being told, but pale skin he had as well. His pretty face made the meddler's heart skip a beat almost, feeling love-struck for only a moment. She was slightly put off from his veins appearing everywhere on his body, at least from what she was able to see.

"Huh?" The man looked up - showing his face much clearer now - when he heard a creaking of floorboards; he stood up, taking on a defensive position.

The snoop had ducked down in time; she decided now was a good time to leave. She made her way out, attempting to find her car. When she had, her head shot up from a passing shadow; it was the man from the factory and he looked to be sneaking about, looking as if he was hiding something. When he disappeared behind somewhere, she decided to follow him.

Moving stealthily through the night, the man made his way to an empty Walmart parking lot; he seemed to be following someone himself, stalking almost. The snoop thought this was odd considering it was a Sunday and the place closed at 6. She frowned, double checking herself by looking at the clock on her dashboard. It was 6:30 almost. She watched as the man lead a pretty girl toward darker areas.

"Hmm, I'm glllaaaddd I found youuu." The girl told the demon man, who grinned; she pushed him further into a wall, smiling, "You... You is handsome, you know? I like your face... It's nice to looook at..."

With a smirk, he told her, "Shush now."

She tilted her head almost, confusion on her face; she beamed louder, "Buuuut we're the only ones here!"

"Shush." Evidently it caused him to become annoyed; when the drunk girl continued to shout out that they were alone, he returned with grabbing her neck and calmly stating, "I said shut up."

The girl's eyes widened, especially when she saw he had claws instead of fingernails. She took a closer look of him in, seeing details she hadn't before. She attempted to squeak at him that he was hurting her, but wasn't able to get any words out. Instead, he pushed his palm deeper into her neck, pushing her further into the wall. It was clear what his intentions were as her face turned blue, doing nothing to stop it.

From her car, the snoop was able to see much of it. She wasn't put off him when his hand went around the other girl's neck, she knew a few people liked that. She jumped slightly when her phone rang; she quickly slid the button so it declined call, though it showed her brother was calling. She set her phone down to look back at the man.

As the snoop looked away, that was when the man took out a pen knife; he took it in his right hand - his dominant hand, his free hand - and jabbed it into where he knew the girl's vital organs were. He grinned, watching as her blood seeped out onto his hand.

"You know, following strangers to dark places like this is bad for you." He smirked over her, seeing as she slumped down to the ground, "You never know what they'd do."

He continued to watch the girl, seeing her life drain away. A small smile was plastered on his face, a look of horror on hers. Crouching down, the man planted a quick kiss on the girl's cheek, getting back up. He hummed to himself, cleaning his knife with a handkerchief before tucking it back in his pants pocket.

The snoop watched in horror, unsure what to do. As soon as she was able to, and while he was cleaning up evidence he was there - minus the body and blood -, the snoop headed for the nearest police station. It was nearing 8 in the morning, when the snoop was able to talk with someone that would see her.

"Miss Everdale," The policeman, who spoke with her, sighed, "You have come here time and time again telling us these stories of murder and people fighting, but 99% of it isn't true. You have to understand how busy we are. If your imagination is becoming that much of a problem, go write some books with it."

After a short pause, he finally shoved her away from his desk, "Now, if you don't mind, we have actual murders and cases to follow up on."

Annoyed she had been shooed away by the 19th officer that day, Irene Everdale (the snoop) went back to the station's main lobby. She got her phone out, attempting to message her brother back about why she didn't answer. As she walked and text, she failed to notice Jezebel was in front of her. She crashed into her, causing Jezebel to drop her newspaper everywhere.

"I am really sorry." Irene attempted to apologise, seeing a frustrated expression on Jezebel's face.

"It's fine." Jezebel attempted a small smile, "You at least noticed me."

Irene noted the pages of newspaper Jezebel had hold of; they were about murders, including a page that had the blurry image resembling John. She took a sudden interest in this girl.

"That man in the picture. You've seen him too?" Irene asked, tilting her head a tad bit.

"What?" Jezebel answered, distracted by her thoughts and picking up her papers; she quickly realised what she had been asked, "Oh, him? Sorta... I know someone that looks like him, but I know full well it's not him. That is actually why I'm here... My partner is being blamed and I want to prove he's innocent."

"Your partner looks like him?" Irene asked with a disgusted, but interested tone of voice.

With a raised eyebrow, Jezebel slowly nodded, "Yes... He does... I mean from what we can see in the picture."

"Were you with him last night?"

Angered slightly by the woman's question, Jezebel frowned, "Yes, I was. All night in fact."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like I was blaming him. Just want to make sure."

Her expression softened, "I understand that... But, it is getting rather tiresome."

"Where... Where's your partner now?" Irene finally asked.

"He's been arrested. He was told to prove he hadn't been on the scenes of crime, and because he had to sort other business... Important business... He wasn't able to find anything to help, so they arrested him."

Jezebel thought back to the previous afternoon, when John came home after said business. This was when he dropped the bombshell on her that he needed to find evidence and fast. She asked what he was doing before that to not have found any yet. His response? He was looking for the elderly man that had his pets follow Jezebel and him.

John had gone to see Christopher Rivera - the man who had been following them through his ravens -, and found he was a shaman of sorts. He was a mage that dealt with herbal remedies, but also practiced in light magic. John saw this as a chance to have Jezebel learn more about her powers, how to control them.

He asked Christopher for his help - forgetting to ask why he had been following -, to teach Jezebel. He agreed to and arranged with John when it was to happen. Christopher also mentioned of how he had murdered one of his beloved pets, but for an unknown reason to John let it slide.

He came home telling Jezebel about it all, after explaining to her the incident with Jim and Snodrass. Jezebel did ask John why the old man was willing to help, but he told her that he failed to ask that question before he left. That also happened to be when Jim came to the door, and upon finding no evidence had been found, reluctantly arrested John under suspicion of murder.

Coming back to reality after reminiscing about how John ended up in jail, Jezebel toned herself back into listening to Irene. She was going on about how she witnessed the latest murder. When she mentioned the smaller details of the John look alike, that was when Jezebel focused more.

"He had blood red eyes, and his skin had these veins." Irene continued to explain.

"Wait, did he look like this?" Jezebel asked, as she flipped through her phone to find a cute selfie of her and John - who was between pouting and smirking; she pointed at John, "Just with what you were on about?"

Irene looked over her photo; her eyes widened in realisation, she nodded, "He did actually. His skin was more... rotten looking? I guess you could say."

"Must be a shapeshifter than." Jezebel muttered to herself.

"What?"

"Umm, nothing..." Jezebel waved it off, giving an awkward smile.

About to ask if she was telling the truth to her, Irene was interrupted by paramedics rushing through the station lobby. Coming out from some double doors, Jim urged them forward through. Irene watched as an anxious expression took over Jezebel's face, her skin tone paling. She immediately followed after, rushing in after them. As she pushed the doors open, they rush back out - someone on the stretcher they had -.

Irene stopped her, "Who was on that stretcher? Did you see?"

"My partner." Jezebel frowned, before quickly following after the paramedics.

"Jezebel." Jim took hold of her arm, "I need to talk with you."

She hesitated, before nodding, going with Jim to a much private room; Irene thought to leave, but then thought it might be a good idea for she and Jezebel to help one another. Plus she was curious to what Jezebel actually said. In a private room - that being the break room for employees -, Jim and Jezebel sat on a large couch.

"John's condition seems to be getting worse. He did mention earlier that he's been getting waves of dizziness... Do you think it's something to do with that?" Jim folded his arms, "It seems to have something to do with these murders... "

"I do. I think it's a shapeshifter... From what I'm guessing, it knows John's not on the best side of the law..." She explained; her gaze was low, worried over her partner, "I read the person a shapeshifter interprets, gets more ill the more the shapeshifter uses them."

Jim looked at her skeptically for a moment - still unsure of this whole supernatural and paranormal side of things -; he watched her, seeing the distressed look on her face, even with her head down, "You go see what you can do, I'll keep an eye on him for you."

She slowly looked up, a small smile on her lips, "Thank you, Jim."

Jezebel was left alone as Jim rushed to the hospital John had been taken to; she was worried something worse than an illness would happen to John. While Jezebel was attempting to think what she could do for him, to help, Irene snuck into the staff room. She looked around for Jezebel, quickly finding her. She seated herself next to her, hesitating to put a comforting hand on Jezebel's shoulder. She decided to go with it, seeing as she needed it.

"I'm sorry about your partner." Irene gave a sympathetic smile, "I'm sure he'll get better. At least if another murder happens, the cops can't blame him, right?"

After a short pause and some thinking time, Jezebel finally asked, "You saw where this thing lives, right?"

"Yeah, I guess it's where he lives."

"Take me there." She demanded, standing.

Irene slowly stood up, too; she raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

The two women exit the police station, heading to this shapeshifter's hideout; when there, they were careful not to alert the guy - if he was there - that they were entering the place. The place was easy to get into despite it having a 'NO TRESPASSING' sign plastered in pretty much every spot it was able to fit. Jezebel and Irene entered through a large hole in the wall. Irene leading, the two of them searched for the office, seeing as Irene told Jezebel that was where she saw him.

Quickly finding it, the girls peeped into see if anyone was there. Seeing not one person, they access the room. Due to daytime lighting, it was clear the office had not been used in decades. A lot of the furniture was patchy, dusty. The walls decayed, damp in corners. The only almost new items in the room: the small old-style TV set and a plump arm chair. It was sort of clear someone lived out here, but not full-time.

As they investigated the place, Jezebel wasn't able to stop her mind from going to John and if he was going to be alright. She stopped, telling herself that worrying about it won't help, and that she needed to find this creature. When she was able to focus more, she spotted something out the corner of her eye. Moving closer, she saw it was a bracelet, a religious one at that. She felt she recognised it from somewhere.

She frowned, stuffing the bracelet into her coat pocket; she turned around, seeing Irene had disappeared. Jezebel thought about following, but then saw another item that caught her attention. A small summoning book and old newspaper clippings of the Mnemoth attack in New York and Atlanta . She noted a page bookmarked; flipping to it, she found it was for Mnemoth - a hunger demon -.

"Did someone want to summon Mnemoth? It looks like they wanted to recreate what happened in Atlanta... With Gary..." Jezebel mumbled to herself, still looking over the pages and clippings; nearing the far end of the office, she was able to hear buzzing of flies and a revolting smell.

Failing to notice a bulky shadow behind her, in the doorway, Jezebel neared the reason for the smell and buzzing. Seeing a decaying, middle to large body of a man, she stepped back slightly. She had seen worse, but the smell was definitely off putting to her. Taking out her phone, she snapped a picture of the Arsenal tattoo she spotted on his right arm, thinking it would be a good idea to keep note of it. She thought she saw something move toward her in the corner, behind the body, so jumped back further.

Jezebel's eyes widened when she bumped into someone; she knew it wasn't Irene because they were definitely male, especially from what Jezebel felt pressed against her. Her mouth gaped open, ready to shout back at them, but found nothing came out. Her natural reaction was to call for John, instead she spun round.

In front of her, it seemed John was already there. The man stood before her, he was practically a double of him, albeit more demon looking. His greying skin gave that away. She noticed his red eyes dance over her, a smirk playing at his thin lips. The red surrounded by a jet black, save for a white speck of light. She flinched almost when he reached clawed hands to cup her face, one brushing her cheek.

"You're quite the pretty, aren't you, li'l lamb?" He smirked; he backed her into a corner, making sure she had no way out. The demon clone tilted his head slightly, "I'm sure I know you from somewhere... " He pondered for a moment, before it came to him, "Ah, you're Johnny's li'l' partner..."

"You... You know John?" She finally managed to ask.

He grinned, "Of course. We're practically twins, dear. Made from the same flesh and blood, almost."

"You're not a shapeshifter, then?" She raised an eyebrow.

"A... A shapeshifter?" He asked, before bursting out with laughter; he smiled, "Ahhh, darling, you are close, but no. I'm... Well, I guess you could call me Constantine..."

She frowned, "You're nothing like him."

"Heh, you don't know him that well, dearie." The Demon Constantine grinned, still with her pinned between his arms, "I am him. I have all the darker sides of his personality... All his... bad traits. I'm John Constantine at his worst." He paused, leaning into her face, "He mustn't have told you about me then..."

"He failed to mention it." She leaned away.

Demon Constantine chuckled, "I thought he would. He made me, when he thought he didn't need those parts of him. He did, he wouldn't be who is without them. He made me when he needed to save a kidnapped child from Hell, and it required a sacrifice..." He appeared to anger slightly at this reason, "I believe her name was Astra, or something like that... She was fiery, I'll give her that, even after being in Hell for so long... Johnny never got her out though."

"Astra?" Jezebel recognised that name; John had told her of Newcastle when he was blackout drunk and in need of a talk. She paused for a moment, "If... If he was unable to get... Astra out, then how come you stayed there?"

"No way for me to get out." He shrugged, not entirely happy he was asked; it quickly went away, "His bandmate was foolish enough to summon me though... Only way I can really get out..."

"Which bandmate?" Jezebel took a quick glance to the dead body.

"Beano... I believe his name was." The demon glanced off to the side, following her gaze; he smirked, "Was a shell of a man, did attempt to brave it though. Thought he was summoning Mnemoth. He didn't have chance to find out he was wrong though..."

"You... You killed him..."

"Snapped his neck like a twig." Demon Constantine seemed proud of himself; he quickly returned his attention back to her, "Though, you seem much more precious to do that to,,," He prowled over her, and instead of backing toward a wall, it was an armchair Jezebel landed in.

She glanced away, eyes still wide; they darted around, trying to find something to distract the creature, "If you're a separate clone... Then why is John ill? He's in hospital... Because of you. Why?"

"You care for him?" The demon avoided her question, smirking; he neared her, hovering over her now, "You want him, yes?"

She hesitated, "N-n-no..."

"You do." He grinned, still hovering; he was right over her now, "I could give that to you, you know... Let you have your moment with me... him..."

She meekly tried to push him away, not being able to push his entire weight off her. He lunged forward, pressing his lips to hers. She writhed slightly against him, seeing as he pressed between her thighs. He widened them slightly, brushing a hand over her. He used one hand to pin hers back above her head, nipping every so often at her neck.

When he made an effort to get into her pants, it caused Jezebel to panic some; she unwillingly let out a burst of magic, a powerful one at that. It caused Demon Constantine to be shot backwards into the wall, causing a nail or two to shot into his hand. He yelled out, glaring almost at her. She looked on in wonder, before quickly composing herself, exiting. She quickly moved passed Demon Constantine, out of the office. He was clearly too weak to chase her.

When she departed the office, she came across a horror of a sight; the mystery of where Irene went was now solved. She was stuck on a pike, mouth open and blood everywhere. Jezebel moved quickly through, fully leaving the building. She intended to tell Jim of the bodies when she got the hospital, to see how John was doing. .

Arriving at the hospital, she quickly asked which room John was in, then headed that way; she found Jim still with him. Though handcuffed to the bed, John's condition was a tad bit better. Jezebel was glad for this. She seated herself beside him, taking Jim's seat when he offered. She explained to them what happened - about Demon Constantine, the two bodies (the old and new ones) and her sudden surge of power. John mostly became disheartened that an old friend of his was dead. Jim had made leave at the mention of bodies, going to investigate.

"Fucking idiot... I should have known... He'd follow the rest of us into learning demonology..." He shook his head; his gaze distant.

Jezebel took out the small bracelet; she looked at it, before handing it to John, "I found this... I thought it would be good to give for evidence, but I'm guessing it belonged to Beano..."

"Thanks, luv." He attempted a small smile, taking the bracelet in hand; he changed topic quickly, "This power surge, then, how'd you do it?"

"I... I dunno..." She glanced away, a look of her being unclear written on her face; she tilted her head, "I know he... he was on top of me... Trying to... to do stuff, and it just... happened... It came out of nowhere..."

John frowned at the mention his demon clone being on top of Jezebel; he looked back at her, "That... That Christopher Rivera... He said he'd help you... Go to him... He'll help you."

"Are... Are you sure?" She worriedly looked at him, "I... I don't want to leave you..."

He sweetly smiled, "I'll be alright. I'd come with ya, but bit tied up at the moment." She gave a short giggle, causing him to smile; he smirked, "Got a laugh outta ya then. You should go see this Rivera guy though; he'll help you control your magic."

A short break and she nodded in agreement; Jezebel got up, "Be safe, John. I'll try not to be too long."

Once given the address of the mage that was going to help, Jezebel got a cab there. She glanced around the neighbourhood, looking for his exact address. It didn't take long for her to find it, seeing as it was to the side of an old antique shop. She shifted the satchel bag up her shoulder a bit - some of the books John allowed her to borrow inside, along with some pepper spray in case something were to happen -, before entering.

Upon entering, Jezebel was able to see said mage on the floor; he was meditating - legs crossed, and looking peaceful. She stifled laughter when she thought he reminded her of Gandalf from Lord of The Rings. Slowly, she walked toward him, trying not to disturb him; she was going to seat herself on the chair behind him.

As she got to beside him, he spoke - still with his eyes closed, "You must be Miss Connelly."

His sudden speech spooked her; she stepped in front of him, putting an hand to her arm, "You know me?"

He opened his eyes, looking at her with a warm smile, "Actually, your partner called ahead and told me you'd be visiting. He didn't, however, specify a full reason other than you have powers... My guess, you have stronger powers than you first thought and want help controlling them. Correct?"

  
She slowly nodded, "Yes, witch type powers were passed down from family. We think it was because my mother practiced witchcraft when she was pregnant with me.... But, I'm starting to have doubts about that being the reason I have them."

  
"Hmm, why's that?" Christopher leant forward, raising an eyebrow.  
  


"Well, I've been told there was family before her that had magic from birth as well... I don't know who they are though... I've never met them."

Christopher nodded; he had a look on his face like he knew what she was on about, like he had information to add, but instead he kept quiet. He stood up, leading Jezebel to take a seat. She followed and allowed him to take hold of her hand when he asked.

Hovering a hand over her palm, with his eyes closed again, the mage focused on his thoughts; after a short while, he stated, "You have a dark force within you... Not just these powers... Something... Something more sinister... It seems it adds to what you have..."

"Jez..." Jezebel dropped her gaze to the floor, saddened, "She's... She's a demon..."

Not wanting to pry too much, he simply nodded, "Well, Jez seems to amplify what powers you have... Though, they are strong enough without."

"They... They are?"

"Yes." After a short pause, Christopher let go of Jezebel's hand, and told her, "I am very willing to train and help you control these powers, if you are willing to learn."

She nodded, "Yes. I... I don't want to end up hurting anyone important to me."

"Very well." He went off to collect what required items they were going to need, "Feel free to look around."

While Christopher did so, Jezebel took his offer up on looking around. As she searched through the bookcase, she spotted a dead mouse - not long dead - at the bottom. Saddened by the sight and intending on finding a proper burial area for it, she took the mouse in her hands, wrapping her scarf around it first.

Sadly, Jezebel pressed the small creature close to her heart; she put it on the countertop of the bookshelf, going to look for a shoebox or something small enough for the mouse to fit in. She came back, not finding anything, and took the mouse back in her hands.

"Sorry li'l pal; I couldn't find anything to put you in." She pressed it close to her heart again; as Christopher stood at the door - she not realising he was there -, he saw the mouse slowly came back to life. He smiled at this, though Jezebel hadn't noticed seeing as she placed it back down in a corner.

"Are you ready to begin?" Christopher finally stepped in, a box of items in hand; he gave a small smile.

"I guess." She smiled, still slightly upset over the mouse; she bit her bottom lip before asking, "What... What makes you think I'm... I'm powerful?"

"I just reckon you are... I can feel it." She received as a response; Christopher began training her, starting with more simple tasks to help certain aspects of her powers (such as levitation). He gave her a number of tasks to do with her powers, though she found them hard to do - even lifting a bowling ball -.

After a number of failed attempts at his training exercises, Jezebel felt disheartened, asking, "Maybe I'm not as great as you say..."

"I'm pretty sure you are." He paused for a moment, glancing toward the bookshelf; a small smile appeared, "You just need a break."

Sitting down in plumpy armchairs, Jezebel and Rivera chatted; the small mouse - now fully alive and well - sat on the back of Jezebel's chair. They drank a cup of tea each as they talked; Jezebel's gaze kept to liquid, keeping down. She felt a little ashamed she wasn't able to do more simple tasks the mage had asked her to do.

After a short moment, she finally asked, "Are you sure I have powerful magic?"

His response, "You brought that mouse back to life earlier without blinking an eye. So yes, I'm pretty sure, my dear."

The small mouse jumped onto Jezebel's shoulder, squeaking at her; he burrowed his head into her hair, causing her to smile. She was stunned, looking over at the bookshelf. She saw the dead mouse was no longer there, and in fact on her shoulder.

"I did?"

Christopher nodded, "You did that without knowing you did it, but imagine what you could do, with a little hard work, knowing. You're a lot more powerful than you know." A short silence passed between them, when Rivera told her, "I'll let you in on something I don't tell many people... I dabbled in the really dark magic once... I nearly went over the edge, because I worked so hard in training myself to be the best. But, I stopped myself because I knew I wouldn't be able to go back when I did lose control. You, however, would be able to. You're stronger."

He showed her the brandings over his arms - pulling up his sleeves to his robes - and then his neck, "These were part of the price of me going that far, and because I wasn't powerful enough," He pulled his sleeves down again, "You, my dear, are. Not every mage can bring the dead back to life."

Jezebel looked over the man's markings before her, then back to eye contact with him. She watched how serious he looked, and thought maybe she could give it one more try. Slowly, she nodded, "If you really think I can, I'll give it another shot."

"I do." He gave a warm smile; a few minutes pass, and Christopher watched as Jezebel got the hang of at least the simpler tasks she was asked to do, "See, I knew you could do it."

"I'm doing it!" She cheered, levitating a few items at once; when she had moved to the slightly harder tasks, she asked, "Would we be able to arrange for another time? ... Maybe make this a weekly sorta thing?"

"Of course." He smiled, nodding; he added, "Any time is good for me. Just ring that number I gave your partner and we'll sort something." Upon mentioning John, Christopher was able to see the sadness in Jezebel's eyes, "Something bothering you, my dear?"

She hesitated, before she questioned, "Do... Do you know much on demon clones, Mr Rivera?"

"I don't know much..." He stroked his slight beard in thought, before adding, "But, I know they don't need many people to banish them. Why do you ask?"

"My partner's has decided he wanted to pay a visit... And whenever he uses John's form, he makes John weaker and more ill... I'm worried it'll get worse than it already has. He's already in hospital." Her face held a concerned expression, "I'm not sure how to stop him... At least not by myself."

"Well, have you found anything out with interacting with this clone?"

"I... I found that when I had a power surge and flung him, the real John got that bit better..."

"So, whenever the demon is injured, your partner gets that bit better? You could injure the clone enough to have your partner help you." He shrugged, not entirely sure what he was talking about - he did only dabble in the dark arts.

"That's... That's actually not a bad idea." She smiled, happy to be making progress in some way or another, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, dear. You best be off then." He returned her smile, "Before that demon makes your partner anymore ill, or kills anyone else."

She waved goodbye to the mage, before leaving and getting a lift back with Chas, "I will."

Getting back to the hospital and to John, Jezebel told him of the plan Christopher helped with; once telling him about the training she had done, of course. He was without the handcuffs now, and feeling a little bit better.

She suddenly realised, "If Jim is investigating the factory, I suppose your demon self wouldn't stick around there much..."

"He wouldn't." John confirmed; he sighed along with her.

"I didn't think so..." She noticed something shift from the corner of her eye, but shrugged it off as nothing; she added, "Do you think banishing him would actually work?"

"Of course not." A husky voice came from the room's corner; from the shadows, demon Constantine stepped with a grin, "I'll always find a way to come back."

John's eyes narrowed; a glare aimed toward his demon clone, "You bloody bastard! First you kill Beano, then you blame me for your kills, and then on top of that, you.. You try it on with Belle!"

"First off, 'Beano' summoned me, so he technically deserved it." Demon Constantine put extra emphasis on the ex-band mate's name; he continued, "And I didn't blame you. The cops did." He grinning, one that showed he was quite proud of what he had done, "As for your friend there, that is all she is to you. Not like you have ownership over her. Do you?" He smirked; he then smiled at Jezebel, "Does he, pet? He's not yours, and you not his. So, if you wanted to, you could have."

"I..." Her mouth parted; she blushed intensely, unsure how to answer.

"He didn't deserve shit! Beano was a naive prick; he didn't know any better. He just wanted to be like the rest of us. You're able to take any form, you didn't have to look like me! As for Jezebel, yes, she can do what she wants. No I don't own her. But, that wasn't any excuse to force yourself on her!" John interrupted; he attempted to get off the bed, only to find he was that bit weaker and almost collapsed off it.

Jezebel rushed to his aid, helping to steady him on his feet; she made sure he was alright, before letting him go. She looked back at Demon Constantine, who had suddenly gotten very close to her. She backed off a little, anxious to what he was going to do. He made sure to back her away from John, so he wasn't able to defend her as quickly.

"I dunno how John can let you go so easily..." He was practically ignoring John being in the room as he leaned close to her; he had a half lidded expression, one that showed his lust for her. He startled her when he went to brush a bit of hair back from her face, "You are too gorgeous to not have."

Still feeling that bit anxious, Jezebel's eyes darted around; she saw - in the quick few seconds her gaze landed on him - John looked furious at his clone. She then remembered what they had thought of earlier. She looked back at Demon Constantine, coming up with a plan.

"And you... You would?" She asked; from the corner of her eyes, she saw a confused frown on John's face, but continued anyway, "You would have me?"

"Yes!" The demon grinned a little too eagerly, "Of course I would!"

Jezebel tried to keep herself calm when he pressed himself against her; she continued, "You would never let me go? Never leave?"

"Never,"

"Would you do anything for me?" She slowly asked; readying herself for an attack.

"Anything." He pushed himself onto her, almost kissing her.

When he answered, she smiled; Jezebel, with a lot of effort, made her magic attack, "Then burn!"

She used it in anyway she was able to, eventually, injure the demon enough that John was able to stand without the bed's support and go to Jezebel's aid. He quickly made it to her, before she collapsed herself.

He caught her in his arms, giving a warm smile, "Brilliant job, luv."

"Fucking... hate people... " Demon Constantine muttered, attempting to adjust himself; he looked beat up to say the least, his skin burnt in places. He glared to John, then looked at Jezebel, "Enjoy her... for now... I'll make sure you get what you deserve, John."

With that, the clone disappeared; he did, however, leave a small clue to where he was currently hiding. John noted the object, and after gently setting Jezebel - who was still recovering - down on the floor, he went to pick it up. He frowned in confusion as in his hand, he held a business card. Written on it in the font 'Architect's Daughter' was a diner name - Thumb's Up Diner. John was grateful to read it held an address and phone number as well:   
  


\----------------------------------------  
(404) 223-0690  
573 Edgewood Ave SE  
Old Fourth Ward

Atlanta

\----------------------------------------

"Huh, that's still in business..." He frowned in confusion, "Why would he be hiding out there?"

Weakly, Jezebel now sat up; she had healed a bit quicker than the last time she over used her powers, "Maybe... he was hungry?"

"You really think a demon would go to a public place for food?" He smirked; he thought for a second, "Nevermind, I already know they would."

"We should get going." She stood up, albeit shakily; she leaned against the small armchair for a bit of support, "He might end up moving on to somewhere else if he hasn't already."

"Take it easy, Belle. You used a lot of energy before." He made an attempt to stop her going out the hospital room.

"John, we need to stop him." She worriedly looked back at him, taking hold of his arm, "I... I don't want him getting that chance to make you that ill again. Please, let's just go and get him."

John paused a moment, before raising his eyebrows and giving a small smile, "Okay, luv, but you don't use your powers again like that until you've got the hang of them."

"Okay." She agreed; the two of them head off for Thumbs Up Diner, once collecting what they needed to banish Demon Constantine.

Arriving on Edgewood Avenue, John and Jezebel were quickly able to find the diner; the diner's outside was very modern looking with its squared off windows that surrounded the door. The sign above said windows, in a chrome look. They entered, seeing the diner's inside was quite similar to the outside, save for it having a 50's feel to its interior decor. The bar stools and booths especially gave off that aesthetic. John looked around, having noticed only a handful of people in there, and his gaze quickly landed on a specific being.

He gave a small smirk, nodding to Jezebel that he had a plan; he quickly told her of it, before announcing to the restaurant's guests, "Alright, everyone out!"

As he shouted this, the dining guests glared with confusion at him; he was soon approached by the restaurant's owner, who looked peeved off to say the least. He pulled them aside, "What is the meaning of this?"

John whipped out his card, showing he was a fire inspector, "Sorry, mate, but we got a call that someone smelled gas... As in carbon monoxide, and we gotta investigate. For precautions, we evacuate."

"I... I don't think I've heard of this before..." The owner raised a confused eyebrow, "Are you sure you're meant to do that?"

"Yes." Both John and Jezebel answer, just wanting people out of the building so they were able to get their culprit.

"We need it done now." Jezebel continued, "Please understand that it's just for the safety of the people."

Still that bit confused, the owner agreed; he had everyone exit the building, even when some complained they hadn't finished their food. He followed pursuit, making sure to keep people calm, though was told - via John - not to re-enter until told by him or Jezebel. When John and Jezebel turned back to the building, all but one person had exited. John noted it was the guy his gaze landed on when they first entered.

A light brown skinned male, that had an average build, sat in a booth near the bar. His hair mid-length, and somewhat wavy. It was a graying light brown. He was short in height, and quite thin. He wore warm type colours, like deep oranges and dark yellows. His look was sporty in a way: a grey hoodie, black jogging bottoms and a pair of converse. He looked normal to most people, but to those with a trained eye, they were able to pick out he was someone in disguise.

John seated himself across from the man, "Didn't you hear us? You not alarmed by the threat of gas?"

"Nothing alarms me much." This 'stranger' spoke with a politeness to him, "Your admonishing of the gas was quite the justification for getting people out of here." It seemed he was using obscure adjectives to put the occult detectives off.

"And why would you think it was an excuse?" Jezebel asked - knowing a few obscure words herself from reading so much; she tilted her head, joining John on his side of the booth.

"Why, the countenance of your faces of course. It is clearly showing false reasoning for getting people out."

"C'mon, just show it's you, demon." John was clearly getting impatient with the pace of the conversation.

The 'stranger' quickly changed his form, showing he was in fact Demon Constantine in disguise; he grinned, though it wasn't one that looked much impressed, "You gotta ruin my fun, don't you, John?"

When John nor Jezebel didn't answer, the demon clone continued, "You two must have a nak for finding demons to find me all the way out here."

"Actually." John smirked, getting out the business card and showing it to his clone, "You left us a clue."

"Oh," Demon Constantine's grin faded; he shrugged, "Well, we all make mistakes." He watched the two of them, before asking with a smirk, "Guess that means you're gonna banish me back to Hell, hmm?"

"Course we are." John frowned; he looked as if he was going to add on to that statement, but was interrupted.

"'Cause I got some news for you, Johnny boy." Demon Constantine grinned, "I'll be back. I'll always find a way back."

"Yeah; well, at least you'll be put at bay for a bit." He sneered back in return.

"What if I told you Astra's made her little self a home in Hell?" The demon grinned, seeing his statement made an impact on John, "Oh, yeah, she's quite at home now. You've took a while getting her out that she's gotten comfortable."

"John?" Jezebel gave a worried glance to her partner; she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, "You know he's trying to get to you. He's trying to distract you."

"It's always so easy to distract him just by mentioning that little girl's name." Demon Constantine beamed; he loved the distracted expression on John's face, "It's so simple."

She glared at the demon sat in front of them, "And that's why you are nothing like him. He has remorse for those who pay prices. Whether that be for him... or not. You don't feel that way, in fact you make others feel guilty for what they blame themselves for... and rub it in their faces... You..."

"I what?" He stood up, leaning toward her; he had a sinister half smile, "I don't take responsibilities for my actions? I don't pay the consequences for my actions? Because if any of those are your thoughts, my dear, than that would make me like him." He paused, seeing the startled look on her face, "He lets others pay for his actions, he doesn't live the consequences of what he does."

"That is where you are wrong..." John stepped in; he frowned, and he looked furious, "I pay the price every time. I lose those I love and care for because of what I do... I pay the consequences by having others end up in the crosswire for me, even if I don't want them to." He paused, his gaze lowering to the table, "I highly expect everyone to end up paying my debts for me... To end up... dead because of me." He raised his gaze again, "The consequences of that? I don't get to be close to people. I don't get to love people. I don't... I don't get to be happy."

Jezebel looked over at him; her mouth parted, ready to speak, but she decided to save it for later. She knew they had a job to do, and now wouldn't be a time he was willing to speak on it. She lowered her gaze to the table. When she raised it again, she saw John had his demon clone's face slammed into the table they were seated at. He got out the devil's trap pendant he used for times he needed a mobile way to banish a demon. It did prove itself useful from time to time. It was quick, but it ended up with Demon Constantine banished back home to Hell.

Heading out of the diner - which was now burnt and ruined in the corner the 3 of them sat -, John told the guests and owner they were able to go back in now, having sorted the issue. The group slowly, cautiously, made their way back in. John, however, just carried on walking - Jezebel following close behind. He had his hands in his pants' pockets and slouched slightly.

"John..." She asked, catching up to his fast pace.

He slowed his pace, seeing Jezebel was having issues keeping up; he looked at her, "Yeah?"

"What you said in the diner... Do you honestly think that?" She asked, "Do you honestly think you don't get to be happy or close to people... or to love them?"

"I guess." He shrugged, gaze now off to the distance; his hand routed through his pockets, looking for his cigarette packet and lighter, "Not really something I wanna talk..." He was interrupted by her hugging him, stepping in front of him to stop him walking, "... About..."

"Sorry you feel that way." She buried her face in his chest; she hadn't realised she had startled him with her sudden hug, but did quickly part from it. She cleared her throat, "We should probably tell Jim that his killer is gone and won't be bothering people much now."

"Yeah." He half smiled; he put an arm around her shoulders, walking again, "C'mon luv."

As they walked John hadn't realised, Demon Constantine had left a mark on the back of his neck; something he hadn't felt. It looked like a cluster of freckles and wasn't much of a concern when seen - when he eventually saw it, John thought nothing of it, thinking he just needed less time in the sun. 

**Author's Note:**

> Richard is Jezebel's Older brother, and it is set a few months after Max (her younger brother) was born


End file.
